Mondo Duplantis runs 100 meters in 10.37 seconds to beat Karsten Warholm in exhibition race
By Jamie Barton, CNN
(CNN) — Not satisfied with breaking the pole vault world record three times within the space of five months, Mondo Duplantis ran 100 meters in just 10.37 seconds to beat 400-meter hurdler Karsten Warholm in an exhibition race on Wednesday.
The event, which took place at Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich, Switzerland alongside the Diamond League meet, saw Warholm clock a time of 10.47 seconds, meaning both athletes registered personal best times. Remarkably, it also meant that both Sweden’s Duplantis and Norway’s Warholm would have qualified from the preliminary round of the 100m at the Paris Olympics.
“I’m pretty fired up. How could I not be?” said Duplantis at the finish line. “Stop playing with me!”
“You know, I’ve got to give it to Mondo. He beat me today, fair and square, so it was a great race,” conceded Warholm. “He was out the blocks so fast. He was out really sharp.”
Watched on by the likes of pole vaulter Sam Kendricks, 110-meter hurdler Hansle Parchment and high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Duplantis got off to an excellent start and held off a fightback from Warholm to take the victory. The Swede even managed to turn and stare down his opponent as he crossed the finish line.
The pair will compete in their usual events on Thursday, and Warholm is expected to turn out in a Sweden jersey after he was presented with one by Duplantis following the race.
The Norwegian is the current world record holder in the 400m hurdles having claimed gold at Tokyo 2020 with a time of 45.94 seconds. American Rai Benjamin had his revenge in Paris last month, his time of 46.46 seconds restricting Warholm to a silver medal.
Meanwhile, Duplantis has set 10 world records in the pole vault, starting with a height of 6.17m in 2020 and concluding, for now, with 6.25m at Paris 2024 and 6.26m in the Diamond League in Poland less than three weeks later.
The 24-year-old has previously run the 100m in 10.57 seconds while at high school, according to Olympics.com. He has also expressed a desire to compete in sprint relays for his country alongside the pole vault.
“I would have loved to do that,” he told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. “And I would love to be part of breaking the Swedish record.”
The-CNN-Wire
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