Despite ripping his hamstring a month ago, world record holder Karsten Warholm is optimistic that he would be able to dominate his competitors and win the 400-meter hurdles event at the world championships where he will attempt to retain his title.
After a sensational 2021 season in which he twice broke the world record and won Olympic gold in one of the greatest races of all time, the 26-year-old Norwegian had a grip on the competition. In fact, he won the event handily.
However, the injury he sustained in the Rabat Diamond League meet in June, which was his first competition of the year, prevented him from preparing for the world championships with the customary level of intensity. The world championships start on Friday in Eugene, Oregon.
In response to a question from the press at Puma House, he said, “It’s been quite tough because you get this thing and you don’t know how each day would go.” “It was little more than a private catastrophe for me when it occurred.”
Even though Warholm has not completed a race in the last ten months, he has not lost any of the swagger that has become synonymous with him as a result of his efforts to simulate the stresses of competition in his training.
“It’s going to be difficult because I don’t know what I can contribute to the table,” she said. “It’s going to be trying.”
“However, I can say without a doubt that all of the training up to the point when the accident occurred was excellent.”
Alison dos Santos of Brazil, who won bronze in Tokyo and ran the fastest race of the year (46.80 seconds) in the Stockholm Diamond League meet, presents a formidable obstacle for him to overcome.
Rai Benjamin, an American, is similarly keen for the top spot on the podium after having to settle for silver both at the Olympics and in Doha. He will have the advantage of a home audience to cheer him on throughout this competition.
“The level is quite excellent right now,” remarked Warholm on the game’s current difficulty. They are now running really fast times, but I believe that I have been able to run some fast times in the past at least. They are currently running extremely fast times.
However, if the challenge of the competition has frightened him, he didn’t show it at all on Wednesday. He walked about as though he were unaffected by his condition and was also seen playing video games.
“I think it’s very reasonable to assume that now we’re going in there, we’re going one hundred percent,” he said.
The global championships are being held in Eugene, Oregon from the 15th to the 24th of July.