On Wednesday, September 4, Armand Duplantis, the Olympic champion in pole vault, defeated 400m hurdler Karsten Warholm in an 100m exhibition race with both the athletes setting their personal best at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich. Sweden’s Duplantis clocked a time of 10:37 seconds after a fiery start off the blocks, while Warholm of Norway crossed the finish line in 10:47 seconds.
The exhibition race happened during the Zurich Diamond League in Switzerland just a month after Armand Duplantis won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024 with a world record pole vault of 6.25m at the Stade de France. In the next tournament, the Silesia Diamond League, the Swedish athlete set a new world record pole vault of 6.26m at the Silesian Stadium in Poland.
After winning the 100m race against Karsten Warholm in Zurich, Armand Duplantis spoke to the reports, “I’m pretty fired up. How could I not be? I mean, come on, stop playing with me.” Duplantis also presented the Swedish jersey to Warholm, wanting him to wear it during the 400m hurdles race at the Zurich Diamond League the next night.
Watch the video of Mondo Duplantis defeating Karsten Warholm here:
Karsten Warholm also gave his thoughts on the 100m dash against Armand Duplantis, and said, “I got to give it to Armand, he beat me, fair and square, so it was a great race. He was out the blocks fast. He was out really sharp.” Notably, both Warholm and Duplantis will be competing in their respective events in Zurich within 24 hours of their exhibition race.
Zurich Diamond League will be a must-watch event for athletics fans on Thursday, September 5, since Armand Duplantis could end up setting a new world record in pole vault.