Zurich: Pole vaulter Armand Duplantis is rarely beaten and he outsprinted 400 metres hurdler Karsten Warholm in the hotly-anticipated 100 metres exhibition race in Zurich on Wednesday, which brought the two World record holders together in a neutral event.
Duplantis was quickest off the blocks and finished with a very respectable time of 10.37 seconds, with Warholm trailing all the way and posting 10.47.
“I’m pretty fired up. How could I not be? I mean, come on, stop playing. Stop playing. Stop playing with me,” a delighted Duplantis said at the finish line.
The idea for the race came after some friendly banter between the pair in training last year, and when the sprint was finally scheduled after the Paris Olympics were out of the way, it captured the imagination of athletics fans worldwide.
The pair entered the track like boxers coming into the ring, with Duplantis in the blue satin gown and Warholm in the red, and there had been plenty of fighting talk in the build-up and light-hearted trash-talk between the friends. Agencies
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