Armand Duplantis wins ahead of Karsten Warholm and shows him this at the finish line.
IMAGO/Bildbyran
How a joke turned serious was evident on Wednesday evening at Letzigrund. An event took place in Zurich that has never been seen before – and may never be seen again.
Because: Two world record holders faced each other, but not in their respective disciplines. No, they competed in the royal discipline of athletics, the 100 m. The protagonists: Karsten Warholm, a Norwegian and record holder in the 400 m hurdles, and Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, a Swede and record holder in pole vaulting.
It began in Monaco
The idea for the duel came to the two friends a year ago while preparing for the meeting in Monaco. The organizers in Zurich stated that they wanted to try something new at world-class events from time to time. Although there was no budget for it, they successfully organized the event. The common sponsors Red Bull and Puma likely also helped.
Before the start, each was confident of winning the race. Both had impressive personal bests, but these were several years behind them. The 28-year-old Warholm once ran 10.49 s, Duplantis (24) 10.57 s. So how did it look on Wednesday?
A nasty glance
In front of 2000 fans in the main stand, Duplantis was ahead from the start, clearly defeating Warholm with a time of 10.37 s to 10.47 s. And the Swede let his opponent know, as he turned to him at the finish line. “I was a bit cocky, but I had to show him that I was faster,” said Duplantis.
Warholm and Duplantis will naturally be in action on Thursday in their usual disciplines at Weltklasse Zurich, starting at 7:45 PM live with us and on SRF.