Karsten Warholm

The Norwegian Youth Indoor Championships in March 2013 saw eight gold medals won by Warholm. He took part in the 200 m competition in June at the 2013 Bislett Games. In his heat, he placed seventh with a timing of 22.25 seconds. He set a personal best in the boys’ octathlon at the 2013 World Youth Championships in July, winning gold with 6451 points. Warholm took part in both the decathlon and specialized competitions in 2014. At the time, his potential future disciplines included long jump, hurdling, and 400m.

In the decathlon, his throwing events showed his poorest performances. With a timing of 46.31 seconds, Warholm broke the 400 m junior record for Norway in June 2014. He finished 0.02 seconds behind Benjamin Lobo Vedel to take silver in the 400 m at the 2015 European Junior Championships in July. He also took silver in the decathlon with a personal best of 7764 points.

He established a new Norwegian national record in July 2016 with a time of 48.84 seconds while competing in the 400 m hurdles semi-final at the 2016 European Championships. With a timing of 49.82 seconds, he then came in sixth in the final. He advanced to the semi-finals of the 400-meter hurdles at the 2016 Summer Olympics in August.  At the European U23 Championships, he set a championship record of 48.37 seconds in July 2017 as he won the 400 m hurdles gold medal. In the 400 m, he finished in 45.75 seconds to take home silver.

With a timing of 48.35 seconds, he captured the gold medal in the 400 m hurdles at the 2017 World Championships in August. He broke his own Norwegian record in the 400 m hurdles two weeks after his triumph at the World Championships with a time of 48.22 s in the 2017 Weltklasse Zürich. Warholm created a new U23 European record and his own personal best at the 2018 European Championships as he won the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles event in 47.64 seconds. Warholm won the 400 m gold medal in March at the European Athletics Indoor Championships. His 45.05-second time matched Thomas Schönlebe’s 1988 record for Europe.

In June, during the Oslo Bislett Games, he established a new European men’s 400 m hurdles record of 47.33 seconds. Warholm lowered his 400 m hurdles mark in the Müller Anniversary Games in July, bringing it to 47.12 seconds. He successfully defended his title from 2017 by winning the 400-meter hurdles at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, in a time of 47.42 seconds. He attained  a new world record of 46.70 seconds on July 1, 2021, in Bislett Stadium in Oslo.

At the Tokyo Olympic 2020, Warholm smashed his own record by 0.76 seconds, winning gold in a time that set a brand-new world record of 45.94 seconds which was a massive 1.63 percent improvement from the old record. He became the event’s first European winner since Volker Beck in 1980. Warholm’s time, the first sub-46 second 400m hurdles time, was faster than the time of 18 competitors in the men’s 400m without hurdles. Rai Benjamin, the silver medalist in the final, also broke the old record with a time of 46.17 seconds. Whereas, Alison dos Santos, the bronze medalist, was 0.02 seconds off the old world record with a time of 46.72 seconds, but also joined the other two in breaking the old Olympic record of 46.78 seconds.

His biggest rival is American hurdler Rai Benjamin. He is the second fastest man in history in the 400 m hurdles with a personal best timing of 46.17 seconds. He clinched silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and at the World Championships in 2019 in the men’s 400 m hurdles.

Leif Olav Alnes is a Norwegian track and field coach. He is a native of Torvikbukt. He moved to Oslo to pursue his education at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, where he earned a degree in biomechanics. He later joined IK Tjalve as a coach. Alnes was the one who suggested Warholm switch to hurdles, and the rest is history. He has also worked with Geir Moen, Amalie Iuel, and Elisabeth Slettum in addition to Warholm.

Karsten Warholm was born on 28 February 1996 in the town of Ulsteinvik, Møre og Romsdal, Norway. His father is Mikal Warholm, and his mother is Kristine Golin Haddal. He holds the Norwegian nationality. Warholm is presently in a relationship with girlfriend Oda Djupvik.