ZURICH, Switzerland, Sep 5 – Olympic pole vault champion Armand Duplantis beat 400m hurdler Karsten Warholm in a 100m exhibition race in Zurich.
Sweden’s Duplantis clocked 10.37 seconds after leading out of the blocks and was able to stare down his friend as he crossed the line.
Norwegian Warholm finished in 10.47 seconds, with both athletes recording personal bests.
The pair raced at Letzigrund Stadium, where both will compete in their usual events in the Diamond League meeting on Thursday.
“I’m pretty fired up,” said Duplantis, 24, after his victory.
“How could I not be? I mean, come on, stop playing with me.”
Both athletes entered the track in boxing robes, with Duplantis in blue and Warholm in red.
After winning, Duplantis presented Warholm with a Sweden jersey to wear in the 400m hurdles Diamond League race.
“I got to give it to Mondo, he beat me, fair and square, so it was a great race,” said Warholm, 28.
“He was out the blocks fast. He was out really sharp.”
Both Duplantis and Warholm would have qualified from the preliminary round of the men’s 100m at the 2024 Paris Olympics with their respective times.
Duplantis defended his Olympic title in Paris, also setting a world record, before bettering his mark yet again by jumping 6.26m at the Diamond League meeting in Silesia last month.
Warholm is the world record holder and a three-time world champion in the 400m hurdles but was unable to defend the Olympic title he won at Tokyo 2020 at the recent Games as he finished second behind American Rai Benjamin.
Duplantis previously has a personal best of 10.57 seconds at high school in the United States in 2018, while Warholm’s previous recorded 100m was in 2017 when he clocked 10.49 seconds.
