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Pole vault king Armand Duplantis beat 400m hurdles master Karsten Warholm in a unique 100m exhibition race in Zurich on Wednesday.
Billed as “100m to settle it all, a battle of legends”, Sweden’s Duplantis used all his raw speed on the track to achieve an incredible start that he never relinquished.
Norway’s Warholm, in lane six, one point behind the Swede, never looked like he could catch his opponent, who won in 10.37 seconds.
Duplantis, the newly crowned double Olympic champion who has broken the pole vault world record ten times, even threw a cheeky jab to his right as he crossed the line.
“I’m really motivated,” Duplantis said. “I feel very, very good.”
Warholm clocked 10.47 seconds in second place and, as the loser, will wear one of Duplantis’ Swedish jerseys when he competes in Thursday’s Diamond League programme.
“He had a great start, congratulations,” Warholm said of Duplantis.
The two athletics stars rushed to the Letzigrund stadium to put some banter on the training ground into practice, which escalated into a final sprint.
The organisers managed to gather around 2,500 supporters in the main stand, with tickets selling for up to 100 Swiss francs (106 euros).
The rivalry began after a joint training session between Warholm and Duplantis ahead of last year’s Diamond League in Monaco.
“He said I looked fast, and I said, ‘Let’s go for a run,'” Duplantis said.
Warholm accepted the challenge after Duplantis claimed he could win.
“With my ego and the high opinion I have of myself, I had to accept,” said the Norwegian, the reigning 400m hurdles world record holder, Olympic gold and silver medallist and three-time world champion.
– Clean waste –
In the evening, each athlete was welcomed onto the track at the 50-meter mark in a lavish parade worthy of boxers.
Warholm came out wearing a red boxer’s dressing gown, hood pulled up over a cap. His trainer Leif Olav Alnes followed him, wearing a tight blue and white jumpsuit with “Fat by Choice” written on the back, and also wearing a horned Viking hat.
Duplantis wore a blue boxer’s dressing gown, accompanied by a group of athletes, including American sprinter Fred Kerley, who helped him with his bouldering training.
“No biting, no kicking, no pulling of vests,” said presenter Colin Jackson.
“Shake hands and have a good fight,” said the former 110m hurdles world record holder.
There was only one winner of the scrap as Duplantis exploded out of the blocks and never looked back.
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