VIDEO. Duplantis wins his 100m bet: the world record holder in the pole vault dominates the hurdler Karsten Warholm

Le perchiste Armand Duplantis s’est imposé sur 100 m face au Norvégien Karsten Warholm, spécialiste du 400 m haies. MAXPPP – MICHAEL BUHOLZER

Il saute très haut et court aussi très vite : le Suédois Armand Duplantis, toujours en forme olympique.

We knew he was fast with a pole vault in hand, but Swede Mondo Duplantis proved on Wednesday in Zurich that he also knew how to sprint by beating Norwegian Karsten Warholm, world record holder in the 400m hurdles, in the 100m, an improbable challenge that the two Scandinavian stars had set themselves last year.

Organized on Wednesday evening by their common sponsors, on the eve of the Diamond League meeting in the Swiss city, the confrontation between the 24-year-old pole vaulter and the 28-year-old hurdler excited the fans who had fun predicting the name of the winner of this duel.

A Duplantis in a cozy mood

After an hour and a half of sometimes sluggish entertainment, between breakdancing and BMX demonstrations, the two athletes finally entered the track, in boxing-style bathrobes, in front of some 2,000 spectators. After a cannonball start, Duplantis took the lead from the first few meters and Warholm was unable to catch up.

In the end, he crossed the line in 10 sec 37, improving by two tenths his personal record over the distance set in 2018. He was one tenth (10.47) ahead of Warholm. Savoring his lead, Duplantis even allowed himself to tease his rival by turning around before crossing the finish line.

“I'm still really happy”, Duplantis rejoiced immediately afterwards. As a token, he offered Warholm a Swedish jersey that the Norwegian will have to wear on Thursday when he runs the 400m hurdles. “That really makes me happy”, he joked as he handed the blue and yellow jumpsuit, the colours of Sweden, to a dejected Karsten Warholm.

A great start

“He got off the starting blocks so fast, well done man”, Warholm responded. The challenge had been launched in 2023 at the Monaco meeting, when Duplantis had told Warholm that he thought he could beat him over 100m and had offered to race him.

“I'd love to”, Warholm had replied before shaking his future opponent's hand. On paper, Warholm, who is used to starting from the starting blocks, seemed to have an advantage, especially since he had a slightly faster record than Duplantis before the race (10.49 in 2017 compared to 10.57 in 2018).

But the Swede, in top form after his second Olympic title and after having improved the world record for the tenth time (6.26m) at the end of August, took the challenge seriously, training for the starts with the American Fred Kerley, bronze medallist in the 100m in Paris. The two athletes continue on Thursday in their respective disciplines.