CNN
—
Karsten Warholm crushed his own 300-meter hurdles world best time in front of a home crowd in Oslo, Norway on Wednesday, clocking 32.67 seconds.
Warholm set the previous mark of 33.05 seconds in April, but bettered that time by almost half a second at the Oslo Diamond League in Bislett Stadion.
The Olympic gold medalist and three-time world champion surged past American Rai Benjamin on the home straight and celebrated by roaring and ripping off his top.
“The race went well, although I was rather worried with how much Rai was closing on me,” Warholm said after the race, per World Athletics.
“But I knew I could push on over the last hurdle to home. I usually fade at the end of the 400, so the 300 suits me to some degree, but I will be back strong in the 400 on Sunday.”
Warholm was competing against reigning Olympic 400m hurdles champion Benjamin and Brazil’s former world champion Alison dos Santos for the first time over 300m hurdles – a lesser-seen event compared to the 400m.
Benjamin crossed the line in 33.22, holding off a late challenge from dos Santos, who was third in 33.38. Those two, alongside Warholm, will return to the track on Sunday for a showdown in the 400m hurdles.
World Athletics announced earlier this year that the 300m hurdles would become an official event at its competitions, though conditions for setting the inaugural world record – as opposed to a world best time – will be decided “once the popularity of the event (has) reached a meaningful level.”
Elsewhere at the Oslo Diamond League, Sweden’s Armand Duplantis took the pole vault title with a meeting record of 6.15 meters. The victory means that Duplantis, who broke the world record for the 11th time earlier this year, is unbeaten since July 2023.
