Warholm set for epic 400m hurdles clash with Benjamin and dos Santos as Bol chases dominant title defense
\n TOKYO
\nKarsten Warholm and Femke Bol are two of the most recognisable athletes on the circuit and both have a chance to add another medal to their collection on the seventh day of action at the world championships in Tokyo on Friday.
\nAFP Sport looks at the two 400m hurdles events:
\nMen\u2019s 400m hurdles final
\nThe iconic image of Warholm streaking through the finish line at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Olympics in a world record time for hurdles gold was one of the most enduring from those Games.
\nHe ripped open his running singlet in sheer exultation as the record time was flashed up on the board, and the Norwegian \u2014 later pictured wearing a plastic Viking helmet \u2014 became an instant sensation.
\nWarholm is back to some of his best form this season. He stormed to victory at the Silesia Diamond League in an astonishing 46.28 seconds.
\nIt was the third fastest time ever run over the distance, topped only by Warholm\u2019s own world record of 45.94sec and American Rai Benjamin\u2019s 46.19sec.
\nBenjamin, who won Olympic gold at last year\u2019s Paris Games, said after Wednesday\u2019s semi-finals he was ready for another \u201chistoric\u201d tussle with Warholm and Brazil\u2019s Alison dos Santos.
\nThe trio have dominated the event in recent years, pushing each other to ever greater times and sharing out the global accolades between them.
\n\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be really fast,\u201d said 28-year-old Benjamin.
\n\u201cI hope it\u2019s historic and I hope I\u2019m on the right side of history this time.\u201d
\nWarholm coasted home in second in his semi, but the result means \u201cI can have an outside lane in the final, it\u2019ll be fun\u201d.
\n\u201cRunning (the semi) was very nice because I had control. I got the answers I was looking for. It\u2019s nice to see there is pace there as well.
\n\u201cI 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.\u201d
\nWomen\u2019s 400m hurdles final
\nBol is the absolute odds-on favourite to retain her title in the women\u2019s race.
\nThere 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.
\nIn the absence of the American, Bol, 25, has lost her chance of a tasty head-to-head and, there can be no denying, the race some of its pull.
\nBut Bol, who this year completed an incredible sixth Diamond League season unbeaten, warned that she wanted to go better in the final.
\n\u201cThis is the best form I have been in the whole year. I want to run my fastest race of the season in the final,\u201d the Dutch hurdler said.
\n\u201cI can do better in the final but there is one gold and I want to win it. The time doesn\u2019t matter. I am not putting any pressure on myself.\u201d
\nCompetition will likely come from the American duo of Anna Cockrell and the 2016 Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad, who at 35 seeks one final glorious hurrah, and Panama\u2019s Gianna Woodruff, the trio all training partners.
\n\u201cIt is a real testament to our group that three of us are through,\u201d Cockrell said.
\n\u201cTo do well in the final always takes incredible poise and an incredible competitive edge.
\n\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Warholm set for epic 400m hurdles clash with Benjamin and dos Santos as Bol chases dominant title defense TOKYO Karsten Warholm and Femke Bol are two of the most recognisable athletes on the circuit and both have a chance to add another medal to their collection on the seventh day of action at the world […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-503644","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n