Warholm had the better accredited time (10.49 in 2017 compared to the Swede's 10.57 in 2018) and, in theory, was expected to have the advantage of being more accustomed to competitive starts, but Duplantis launched off the starting blocks with greater power and dominated the race from start to finish, ultimately winning with a time of 10.37, a tenth of a second faster than the Norwegian (10.47), who also improved his personal best.

Duplantis' powerful running is one of the reasons behind his impressive pole vault performances. In his event, he sprints full throttle for around 50 metres before beginning his jump towards the bar, but Mondo is capable of maintaining that high speed beyond that distance, up to 100 metres, as he demonstrated against Warholm.

That speed was enough for him to surpass Warholm, whose usual event (400m hurdles) is not for pure sprinters but for athletes who are both very fast and technically adept at clearing hurdles, as well as having the endurance required for a sustained 400-metre race.

Good friends, Karsten sportingly accepted his defeat and, in good spirits, took the Swedish jersey that Mondo gave him to wear in his 400m hurdles race at the Zurich Diamond League. "It'll be a pleasure!," replied the Norwegian.

The origin of this unprecedented duel, organised by a mutual sponsor, can be traced back to the 2023 Monaco meeting, when 24-year-old Duplantis told 28-year-old Warholm that he believed he could beat him over 100 metres. "I'd love that," responded the Norwegian, who readily accepted the challenge. "To me, it was just a joke, but today I saw the track and I’m starting to realise it's serious," smiled the Swede on the eve of the race, pitched as "100m to settle it all, a battle of legends" and which attracted about 2,500 fans.

Once in the starting blocks, the pole vault king added another victory in an imperial season for him, which culminated a few weeks ago when he defended his Olympic gold in Paris, breaking his own world record (6.25m), a mark he surpassed days later in Chorzow (Poland).

An Olympic gold (2021), an Olympic silver (2024), three world golds (2017, 2019, 2023) and three European golds (2018, 2022, 2024) are some of Warholm's great achievements in the 400m hurdles, while Duplantis is already a double Olympic champion (2021, 2024), double world champion (2022, 2023), and three-time European champion (2018, 2022, 2024) in pole vault.