Warholm eyes Olympic title, says will leave rivals to set new record

Karsten Warholm said on Friday he had done his job as far as the world record was concerned and his focus was on adding the Olympic men’s 400 metres hurdles gold to his two world titles.

The 25-year-old Norwegian timed 46.70 seconds to break Kevin Young’s long-standing mark in Oslo on July 1. The record had been set almost four years before he was born.

Warholm brushed aside the question of whether he would need to break his own record to win the Olympic title on July 3.

“Maybe someone else will do it. I’ve done my job,” he said after breezing into the semi-finals.

Warholm was just relieved to have finally got his Olympic challenge under way, even if it was in front of empty stands — spectators are barred owing to the coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo.

“I have been here for two weeks already, I’m starting to get bored so it was very nice to get around,” he said.

The man most likely to threaten his world record is his biggest challenger, Rai Benjamin.

The 25-year-old American is the third fastest of all time and arrives fresh, having not run in the European season.

“To be honest with you, I’ve been trying to avoid that question (about the potential of the world record being broken) because the Norwegian media has been butchering me about that, they say I talk about it too much,” said Benjamin.

“I’m just here to win a gold medal for Team USA and for myself. I’m really ready. I am just focused on winning, that is it.”