Mondo Duplantis uses personal best to hold off Karsten Warholm in 100m sprint showdown
The two friends took the track in a unique dual Wednesday (4 September) ahead of the Zurich Diamond League
Athletics
Sweden's pole vault sensation Mondo Duplantis set a personal best time Wednesday (4 September), as he faced off with Norway's Karsten Warholm in a 100m sprint showdown ahead of the Zurich Diamond League Weltklasse.
An excited crowd - including stars of athletics including Americans Sha'Carri Richardson and Sam Kendricks, along with Team GB's Dina Asher-Smith - were on hand in the Letzigrund stadium for the dual.
Duplantis got out of the blocks well, taking about a metre lead from the start that he would carry through to the finish. In the end, he clocked a 10.37, ahead of Warholm's 10.47.
"I'm pretty fired up. How could I not be?" the Swede said afterward.
Despite some pre-event trash talking from both competitors, Warholm praised his friend following the race.
"I gotta give it to Mondo, he beat me today fair and square," he said. "It was a great race, he was out of the blocks fast."
Coming into the race, which had been in the works for more than a year, Duplantis, the world record holder in the pole vault, had a personal best time of 10.57 - a time that dates back to his senior year of high school in 2018.
Warholm, the 400m hurdles world record holder, also set a career best Wednesday, improving on a 10.49 mark from 2017.
Competition in the Zurich Diamond League is set for Thursday (5 September). There, Warholm is set to compete decked out in a Swedish uniform, courtesy of Duplantis' big win in the 100m.
A first for the Norwegian star - and almost certainly the last, as well.
"It's going to be the last time, for sure," said Warholm.