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TOKYO – Karsten Warholm couldn’t feel her legs as she closed the finish line. A buildup of lactic acid is expected and typically causes great discomfort for top-notch athletes. But in this case, in chasing his first Olympic title, Warholm pushed himself away entirely, replaced by a kind of absence of pain.
“I just ran for my life,” she said.
The result was one of the greatest races in Olympic history. Warholm, a 25-year-old Norwegian who is training to become a decathlete. cleared his own world record men’s 400m hurdles won in 45.94 seconds at the Tokyo Games on Tuesday. USA’s Rai Benjamin finished second with 46.17 seconds, a time that also dwarfs Warholm’s previous world record, but is not good enough for gold.
The cold reality brought Benjamin to tears.
“There is a lot to process,” he said.
Where to start? Not so long ago, the world record stood for nearly 29 years. Warholm has fallen below this mark twice in the past five weeks. His time on Tuesday was faster than 18 of the 48 Olympians who competed here in the men’s 400m qualifiers – a race with no 10 hurdles ahead. (Benjamin was faster than 14 people.)
And then there were the seven men who surpassed Warholm – five national records among them. Brazilian Alison dos Santos took the bronze in 46.72 seconds, the South American record and the bronze medalist. fourth fastest time in history. If they weren’t part of the same generation, each would be a generational talent.
“Everyone at this event should be paid big bucks,” Benjamin said. “And I think next year and the year after that will be better.”
Warholm and Benjamin experienced the same semi-final excitement on Sunday as Warholm faced off for the first time since 2019, when Warholm beat Benjamin to defend the world title.
Both men made the finish easy—Warholm was less than a tenth second ahead of Benjamin—a showdown they’ve been waiting for for years while maintaining their energies for the finale.
“I couldn’t sleep last night,” Benjamin said.
Warholm was also restless, but adept at creating a confident look. He slaps his chest and face before his races, leaving red marks on his body – attacking the event itself with a dramatic introduction and raw brutality. But all theaters tend to camouflage their true feelings, he said, and it was no different before Tuesday’s finale.
“I was a little scared,” he said, “and that’s something I always do.”
As the fastest qualifier of the semi-finals, Warholm chose his own lane. He chose Lane 6 just outside Benjamin in Lane 5. Warholm prefers a more gradual curve of the track, he said, but that also meant he wouldn’t be able to see Benjamin for much of the race. . The only thing Warholm could control was his effort. And he said he wanted to go outside to create “stress” among other runners.
Dos Santos and Qatar’s Abderrahman, both of whom he could see from the outside, could feel he had managed to get out of the first corner as he began to stagger in Samba as he began to compensate.
“I knew I was putting them in a place they didn’t want to be,” Warholm said. “I didn’t want to be there because it hurts.”
Kyron McMaster from the British Virgin Islands had to tell him to stay calm with the likes of Warholm and Benjamin. He said too often, “It would be suicide if you followed them.”
Benjamin got off to a strong start, but said he mistimed his steps before the fourth hurdle, an almost unnoticed mistake that slowed his acceleration and proved costly.
“This thing is so cruel,” he said.
Still, Benjamin seemed to be winning as Warholm came out of the final corner before Warholm found some energy in reserve. As his time flashed on the scoreboard, he tore his jersey and screamed.
“I could have died for that gold medal today,” he said.
There has been a lot of speculation about the games. the effect of a fast racing surface and advances in shoe technology. Benjamin wears one of his futuristic Nike studs, while there is a carbon plate on the spikes that Warholm says is the result of a joint effort between Puma and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team.
“I have a great shoe,” Warholm said. “It was important to make a shoe that gave credibility to the results, so we tried to make the plate as thin as possible.”
He suggested that Nike crossed the line with the design of its shoes. Warholm called it “trampoline” and used another word unsuitable for printing.
As for the piece? “This is such a great track,” Warholm said. “But I think it’s not just the track. I think men are too.”
One of these men was McMaster, who finished fourth. He said he didn’t feel disappointed because he missed the medal podium. Last year, he considered retirement after the Olympic postponement. But he has since taken advantage of his competitive friendship and rediscovered his passion for the sport.
McMaster said it’s no small thing to share the stage with the fastest guys in the event’s history. On Tuesday, she was grateful to be a part of it.
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