Warholm joins greats – then blasts rivals’ shoes
Champion in 400m hurdles ignites row about new tech Nike footwear of runner-up Benjamin are like ‘trampolines’
In the wake of arguably the greatest track race in Olympic history, 400 metre hurdles champion Karsten Warholm ignited a row about shoe technology when he called his nearest rival’s super-spikes “bull----”.
Warholm’s victory was one of the most mind-boggling feats in the sport’s history, reducing his own world record by a staggering 0.76 sec to triumph in 45.94 sec.
By way of comparison, it was so quick that it would have won him this year’s British 400m title. Even if he were the only athlete having to jump over hurdles, he would still have won.
As the Norwegian did his best Clark Kent impression by ripping his shirt open in celebration, it was apparent that athletics had found its own Superman.
But this was no one-man show. Rai Benjamin, of the United States, also shattered the previous world record to claim silver in 46.17. Brazil’s Alison dos Santos is now the third-fastest man of all time with 46.72. Yet he was obliterated in picking up a distant bronze.
“I’ve been training like a maniac,” said double world champion Warholm, 25. “I struggled to sleep last night because I had this special feeling in my chest. It’s like the feeling I had as a six-year-old on Christmas Eve.
“A lot of the time I am asked about the perfect race. I said it didn’t exist, but this is the closest I’ve ever come. I can’t describe how important this is for me. I was so focused on getting that last medal in my collection and now it’s all complete. I need to set myself new goals, I don’t think I’m done yet.”
As always with athletics, there are caveats. Athletes have described Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium track as one of the fastest they have run on. Then there are the super-spikes, which many people argue make today’s times incomparable with previous eras. Warholm admitted the shoes were having an impact, but insisted there was a difference between his and those worn by Benjamin.
Both his Puma Evospeed Future Faster+ spikes and Benjamin’s Nike Air Zoom Maxfly shoes contain a carbon-fibre plate to help with energy transfer. But the American’s also have an air pod underneath the forefoot to provide a bounce effect.
“If you put a trampoline there I think it’s bull----,” Warholm said. “I think it takes credibility away from our sport. I don’t see why you should put anything beneath a sprinting shoe.
“What I can say about the shoes that I’ve been developing in a collaboration between Puma and the Mercedes Formula One team is that we’re trying to make it as credible as it can be. Yes, we have the carbon plate but we have tried to make it as thin as possible because that’s the way that I would like to do it.
“Of course, technology will always be there but I also want to keep it down to a level where we can actually compare results.”
Benjamin said: “People say it’s the track, it’s shoes. I’ll wear different shoes and still run fast. It doesn’t really matter at the end of it.
“There’s some efficiency in the shoe, don’t get me wrong, and it’s nice to have a good track, but no one in history is going to go out there and do what we did just now, ever.
“It could be [former world recordholder] Kevin Young, [double Olympic and double world champion] Edwin Moses, all respect to those guys, but they cannot run what we ran just now.”
Ever the showman, Warholm had produced his customary Viking roar on the start line before setting off at the type of manic pace that has become expected of him. Rounding into the home straight, the challenge was posed. Always a few metres behind, Benjamin began to close on his Norwegian rival and for a few strides it looked as though the gold medal might be heading to the US. Not a chance. Somehow, Warholm went again, seemingly getting faster with every step he took. That, of course, is not possible. But neither is breaking a 400m hurdles world record by 0.76sec, and Warholm managed that.