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Ostrava (Czech Republic) (AFP)
Karsten Warholm said on Monday that 2020 could be “a gift” as it has allowed athletes to focus on improving their times rather than worrying about medals from canceled competitions.
In Stockholm two weeks ago, the 24-year-old Norwegian was 0.09 seconds off Kevin Young’s 400-meter hurdles world record of 46.78 seconds since the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
Warholm’s next chance to break the record will come on Tuesday, at the Golden Spike meeting at the Ostrava steel center in eastern Czech Republic.
“I think a season like this gives people the opportunity to act,” Warholm said in Ostrava, pointing to the canceled European championships and the postponed Tokyo Olympics.
“You can train more and you can train more. I think this year can actually be a gift. Don’t worry about the medals, you can focus on the times.
“I would like to have the Olympics and the European championships, but when this situation happens, I think it is important to find a better way of looking at it,” Warholm said.
In the hope that he will break the world record again, the organizers have advanced his race to ensure ideal conditions on the presumably sunny day.
“Everyone is talking and thinking about the record and for me it’s more about doing what I can do,” said Warholm, the 2017 and 2019 world champion.
– ‘No pressure’ –
“The best I can do is try to get a normal run. If the level is there, it’s there and then it’s about doing a run that’s fast enough,” he said into a carefully sanitized microphone, his black mask on.
“I feel good, my body is good, the form is good and I’m going to go out and do my thing,” Warholm said.
In Stockholm, he ran the second fastest 400m hurdles in history and set a new European record despite clearing the last hurdle.
“I just saw Kevin Young hit the last hurdle in his record career, so I thought I’d try the same, but it didn’t work out that well,” he chuckled.
Organizers in Ostrava have put him in lane 8, as in Stockholm, to help him focus on the race, not his rivals.
“I actually like that way of running. I don’t know if it’s my new favorite lane, but right now I feel like it works really well,” Warholm said.
After driving to Stockholm in a caravan with his coach and sleeping in the vehicle to minimize the risk of catching Covid-19, Warholm flew to Ostrava in a private plane.
“It’s a very nice way to travel, but now I have to comply, the pressure is on me,” Warholm said.
And, he recalled that the Golden Spike organizers used to fly Usain Bolt like this, he joked, “Oh, big shoes to fill … No pressure, no, no, no.”
© 2020 AFP
