Armand Duplantis, during the Men's Pole Vault Final. GETTY IMAGES

On 4 September we will see something very unusual: a duel between two athletes in a race in which they never compete. It will be the great duel of speed between the Swedish pole vaulter and the Norwegian 400m hurdler.

The race between Armand Duplantis and Karsten Warholm will not be official. The Diamond League meeting in Zurich on 5 September will be used as an opportunity to celebrate something special for the fans the day before.

It will be a duel between two top athletes who are friends. It's a fun opportunity to see these competitors go head-to-head in something they don't specialise in.



Duplantis and Warholm have been two of the stars of the Paris 2024 Games. However, their results at the Stade de France did not leave them with the same feeling. The Swede was the best in the pole vault. He won the gold medal with little difficulty, but set a new world record by jumping 6.25m. The Norwegian is the world record holder in his speciality, the 400m hurdles, but he could only win the silver medal in Paris, defeated by the American Rai Benjamin.

For Duplantis, it was his second consecutive Olympic gold. He also has two World Championships golds and one silver and three European Championships golds, and has won the Diamond League three times. In the pole vault his only rival seems to be himself. In the 100m he has a personal best of 10.57s. He did it in 2018. 



Warholm is the big name in the 400m hurdles. He set the world record of 45.94s at Tokyo 2020, when he became Olympic champion. He also has three World Championship golds and three European Championship golds. He has won the Diamond League once. He even has 400m medals, without hurdles, at World and European indoor championships. But in Paris he finished far behind Benjamin. He was second, six tenths behind the new Olympic champion. He has a personal best of 10.49 in the 100m in 2017.



With the specialities they both have, it makes sense that the 100m is a part of their training. Warholm is a sprinter of a different kind and Duplantis also has to train his sprint for the pole vault. 

Zurich's Letzigrund Stadium will be the venue for this special competition. A sports facility that has been in existence for almost a century. It has been hosting one of the most important athletics events of the year since 1998. First in the Golden League and later in the Diamond League.