Subscribe to our free sports newsletter and receive the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing.
Subscribe to our free sports email newsletter to receive all the latest news
Subscribe to our free sports email newsletter to receive all the latest news
Pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis is rarely beaten and in the eagerly awaited 100-meter exhibition race on Wednesday in Zurich, in which the two world record holders competed against each other in a neutral event, he left the 400-meter hurdler Karsten Warholm behind.
Duplantis was the fastest out of the starting blocks and finished the race with a very respectable time of 10.37 seconds. Warholm was just behind him throughout the race with 10.47 seconds.
“I’m pretty excited. How could I not be? I mean, come on, stop playing. Stop playing. Stop playing with me,” said a delighted Duplantis at the finish line.
The idea for the race came to the pair after friendly banter during training last year, and when the sprint to Paris 2024 was finally scheduled, it captured the imagination of athletics fans around the world.
The couple entered the racetrack like boxers entering the ring, Duplantis in a blue satin dress and Warholm in a red one. There had been plenty of fight talk beforehand and there was light-hearted trash talk between the friends.
They shook hands before removing their robes and making their way to the starting blocks. Duplantis was the fastest as Warholm could not catch the Swede.
“You know, I have to give it to Mondo. He beat me fair and square today, so it was a great race,” Warholm said.
“And he was fast out of the starting blocks. He was really fast.”
For a change, when Duplantis competes in his own discipline, the world record of 9.58 seconds set by Usain Bolt in 2009 was never in danger, but both ran faster than the women’s record of 10.49 seconds set by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988.
Duplantis has broken the pole vault record 10 times, including last month in Paris when he defended his Olympic title, and set his latest record 10 days ago with a jump of 6.26 at the Silesian Diamond League.
Warholm won silver in Paris after winning Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021, where he also broke his own world record, which still stands today, with a time of 45.94 seconds.
On Thursday, the two will be back in action in their traditional disciplines at the same venue, in the world-class Diamond League at the Letzigrund Stadium. After his defeat, Warholm was presented with a Swedish jersey, which he is expected to wear in his race.
Reuters
