Karsten Warholm and Mondo Duplantis to race over 100m

The two world record-holders will go head-to-head over a 100m sprint in September

Norwegian hurdler Karsten Warholm and Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis are gearing up for an exciting head-to-head sprint at Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich.

The highly anticipated clash will take place on September 4, just one day before the Zurich Diamond League – ending months of speculation about their showdown.

Duplantis, fresh off a stellar performance in Paris, Karsten Warholm successfully defended his Olympic title by setting a world record of 6.25m in the pole vault.

Prior to this, the 24-year-old had already broken the Olympic record by clearing 6.10m at the Stade de France and achieved the world record on his third attempt.

The two-time world champion has now broken the world record on nine occasions and is the first athlete to retain his pole vault title since American Bob Richards in 1952 and 1956.

He first broke the world record when it stood at 6.16m in Poland in February 2020 and he broke it again one week later in Glasgow at the Muller Indoor Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, Karsten Warholm, the 400m hurdles world record-holder, lost his Olympic title in Paris to the USA’s Rai Benjamin. Warholm finished with a silver medal, clocking 47.06, while Benjamin won gold with a world-leading time of 46.46 and Alison dos Santos from Brazil came third.

After an error on hurdle nine, Karsten Warholm wasn’t able to match his season’s best of 46.70 in Paris. He had recently won his third consecutive European 400m hurdles title in June as he broke his own championship record with 46.98.

Karsten Warholm (Getty)

The idea for the clash between the pair originated from a video shared on social medal in July 2023, where the two athletes discussed the possibility of racing each other.

Now, that conversation has turned into reality, with the showdown being hosted in collaboration with Puma, Red Bull and Weltklasse Zurich.

Despite competing in different events, their 100m personal bests are surprisingly close. Karsten Warholm recorded 10.49 seconds in 2017, while Duplantis clocked 10.57 as a high school senior in 2018.