What happens when the greatest pole vaulter races the fastest 400-metre hurdler?
The world’s greatest pole vaulter, Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, and the fastest 400-metre hurdler, Karsten Warholm, will face each other in a 100-metre sprint.
The race is scheduled to take place in Zurich, Switzerland, on September 4, a day before the city’s Diamond League meet.
Fans and pundits alike are buzzing with curiosity: What happens when two of the biggest names in track and field cross disciplines?
Armand Duplantis, the Swedish pole vault superstar, continues to redefine what’s possible in his sport. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, he broke his own world record for the ninth time, clearing 6.25 metres to claim his second consecutive Olympic gold medal.
The Norwegian Karsten Warholm, the fastest-ever 400-meter hurdler, still holds the world record of 45.94 seconds, which he set during his run at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021. Warholm’s career achievements also include three world championship titles and a recent silver medal from the Paris Games.
The concept of elite athletes from different disciplines competing against each other isn’t entirely new. For years, sports fans have indulged in debates over fantasy matchups, such as whether sprint legend Usain Bolt could have outrun football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo during their prime.
While these hypothetical scenarios never materialised, the upcoming Duplantis-Warholm showdown is a rare opportunity to see such a crossover in real life.
However, this won’t be the first time Duplantis and Warholm have taken on the 100-metre dash. Warholm clocked a time of 10.49 seconds back in 2017, while Duplantis ran 10.57 in 2018.
The Swedish pole vaulter has long expressed a desire to take part in sprint relays for his country.
"I would have loved to do that. And I would love to be part of breaking the Swedish record," he said in a recent interview with Sweden’s Dagens Nyheter. Duplantis revealed that he kept pace with a training partner who ran 10.30 seconds.
Although we never saw the fastest man alive Usain Bolt take on football’s greatest Cristiano Ronaldo, we are sure to witness two of the biggest names in track and field athletics, Duplantis and Warholm face-off in this 100-metre sprint.
