For his first 400m hurdles of the season, Norwegian Karsten Warholm broke American Kevin Young’s old world record in 46 seconds 70 at home in Oslo during the Diamond League meeting in Oslo (Norway) on Thursday. 1er July.
It thus erases the 46 seconds 78 of the American who dated almost 29 years and the Olympic Games (Olympics) of 1992 in Barcelona.
“I knew I had a quick time in me for a long time, but it’s another thing to do. It was just the perfect time, everyone was talking about it [du record]. My first at Bislett Stadium with the public coming back, it’s so special to be able to do it, I’m just proud, it’s incredible ”, he reacted. “It’s only my first 400m hurdles of the year. I can still develop my race and do better. “
Warholm’s record comes just four days after American Rai Benjamin, who became the second best performer of all time in the distance in the US Olympic trials, set 46 seconds 83.
The two men are to meet on July 9 at the Monaco meeting for an explosive clash in the form of a warm-up before the Tokyo Olympics (July 23 – August 8), where their duel promises to be epic.
A discipline in full swing
Karsten Warholm, double reigning world champion, had already approached the world record several times in 2019 (46 seconds 92), then in 2020 (46 seconds 87). At the age of 25, he confirmed his grip on a discipline in full swing that he relaunched for four years with Benjamin and the Qatari Abderrahman Samba: two-thirds of the 18 best times of all time have been achieved since 2018.
Power monster with a muscular physique (1.87 m, 80 kg), screaming and slapping his chest and cheeks before his races, Warholm also attracts the light with his extraordinary and quirky personality. Since March 2015, this former amateur of combined events (7,764 points in junior on decathlon) has linked his destiny to Leif Olav Alnes, a trainer nearly 40 years his senior, who shares his eccentricity, for the better: he has conquered with him two world titles and two European titles (including one indoors over 400 m).
The 400m hurdles are not only on fire for the men, since the American Sydney McLaughlin seized the women’s world record on Sunday (51 seconds 90), and she is also playing an electric duel with her compatriot. , Olympic champion and former world record holder Dalilah Muhammad.