Usain Bolt couldn’t stop pole vault legend Mondo Duplantis stunning the sprint world with 100m win over hurdles king

Usain Bolt’s advice could not prevent hurdles king Karsten Warholm from losing a sprint race to pole vault sensation Mondo Duplantis.

Swedish superstar Duplantis stunned the athletics world on Wednesday night by obliterating the fastest 400m hurdler of all-time over 100m in an exhibition race in Zurich.

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Duplantis, who has revised his own pole vault world record ten times, ran 10.37, while his Norwegian friend Warholm could only manage 10.47.

“I’ve got to give it to Mondo – he beat me fair and square,” Warholm said. “He got out of the blocks really fast. It was a great race.”

Warholm added: “I actually sent my block starts videos to Usain Bolt.

“He said, ‘You shouldn’t walk out the blocks. You should push’.”

Meanwhile, Duplantis had help from former 100m world champion Fred Kerley, who was in a packed grandstand of people who were lucky enough to watch the unique event.

The pair entered the arena on the eve of the main Diamond League meeting wearing boxing-style gowns.

Duplantis had time to look back at his opponent while crossing the finish line, before handing him a Sweden jersey to compete in on Thursday.

American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, who won gold in the women’s 4x100m at the 2024 Olympics, went viral for the ‘cold look back’ before taking Team USA over the line in Paris.

She posted her moment alongside Duplantis crossing the finish line on Instagram and wrote: “The look over and BACK is all Mondo.”

Speaking before the event, Duplantis had promised to ‘kick his opponent’s ass’, and despite the comfortable nature of his victory, both men would have qualified for the 100m prelims for Paris 2024 with their respective times.

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The Swede revealed that the race had been his sole focus since winning gold in the pole vault at Paris 2024.

“I’m pretty fired up,” Duplantis said.

“Since the Olympics, I haven’t touched a pole in training, only blocks.

“I love to sprint. I think it’s the greatest thing ever. There’s no better feeling at all that compares to that split second before the gun goes off and you’re just there waiting for it.

“Everything just kind of releases when it happens. It’s like the biggest bundle of energy you could ever have.”