Karsten Warholm, Femke Bol headline hurdling royalty on Day 7 of Tokyo World Athletics Championships
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Norway's Karsten Warholm preparing for the start of his race in the men's 400m hurdles semi-final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sept 17.
PHOTO: EPA
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TOKYO – Karsten Warholm and Femke Bol are two of the most recognisable athletes on the circuit and both have the chance to add another medal to their collection at the world championships in Tokyo on Sept 19.
AFP Sport looks at the two 400m hurdles events.
Men’s 400m hurdles
The iconic image of Warholm streaking through the finishing line at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in a world-record time was one of the most enduring from those Games in 2021.
He ripped open his running singlet in sheer exultation as the time was flashed up on the board, and the Norwegian – later pictured wearing a plastic Viking helmet – became an instant sensation.
Warholm is back to some of his best form this season. He stormed to victory at the Silesia Diamond League in August in an astonishing 46.28 seconds.
It was the third-fastest time ever run over the distance, topped only by Warholm’s own world record of 45.94sec and American Rai Benjamin’s 46.17sec.
Benjamin, who won Olympic gold at the 2024 Paris Games, said after the Sept 17 semi-finals in Tokyo that he was ready for another “historic” tussle with Warholm and Brazil’s Alison dos Santos.
The trio have dominated the event in recent years, pushing each other to ever swifter times and sharing out the global accolades between them.
“I think it’s going to be really fast,” said 28-year-old Benjamin. “I hope it’s historic and I hope I’m on the right side of history this time.”
Warholm coasted home in second in his semi-final, but the result means he “can have an outside lane in the final, it’ll be fun”.
He added: “Running (the semis) was very nice because I had control. I got the answers I was looking for. It’s nice to see there is pace there as well.
“I feel confident of course, being on this track. But out there you have dos Santos, you have Rai Benjamin, really good runners, hard workers, and they can challenge.”
Women’s 400m hurdles
The Netherlands’ Femke Bol reacting after competing in the women’s 400m hurdles semi-final during the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sept 17.
PHOTO: AFP
Bol is the odds-on favourite to retain her title in the women’s race.
There is a notable absentee from the final line-up: Double Olympic champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who has opted to run the 400m flat.
In the American’s absence, Bol, 25, has lost the chance of a tasty head-to-head and, there can be no denying, the race some of its pull.
But Bol, who in 2025 completed an incredible sixth Diamond League season unbeaten with a 51.91sec best, warned that she wanted to go faster in the final.
“This is the best form I have been in the whole year. I want to run my fastest race of the season in the final,” the Dutch hurdler said.
“I can do better in the final but there is one gold and I want to win it. The time doesn’t matter. I am not putting any pressure on myself.”
Competition will likely come from the American duo of Anna Cockrell and 2016 Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad, who at 35 is seeking one final glorious hurrah, and Panama’s Gianna Woodruff, the trio all training partners.
“It is a real testament to our group that three of us are through,” Cockrell said.
“To do well in the final always takes incredible poise and an incredible competitive edge.
“I expect the times are going to be fast, they have been fast for the last 10 years. It is going to be a hot race. It is going to be competitive. It is going to go down to the wire.” AFP
