It&rsquo;s no surprise to hear that since the Tokyo Olympic Games, Norway&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles champion and world record-holder Karsten Warholm has been receiving even more attention in his home country.
Not that he minds, however, which is just as well as his solution otherwise is an idea he refuses to entertain.
&ldquo;Norwegians have been very kind to me,&rdquo; he smiles. &ldquo;There is a bit more attention, but if I want to get rid of the attention I could just run slower, and I don&rsquo;t see that as an option right now!&rdquo;
Given the year Warholm has had, that is an incredibly exciting prospect.
The 25-year-old is speaking to the world&rsquo;s media, fresh from having been named Male World Athlete of the Year at the World Athletics Awards 2021 in Monaco. The honour caps an incredible season in which the hurdles star twice broke the world 400m hurdles record &ndash; taking the event to a whole new level to become Olympic champion &ndash; and also claimed the Diamond Trophy, broke the world 300m hurdles best and extended his now three-year unbeaten streak in his specialist event. 
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It's another big moment for Warholm, as being named World Athlete of the Year is an honour he has been chasing since he claimed his first World Athletics award in 2017.
&ldquo;This award has been on my bucket list, especially since I got the Rising Star award some years back,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I feel like it&rsquo;s even better when you can complete that, because the Rising Star is an award to show that you are on the right path, but this award shows that I managed to take the big step into being an elite senior athlete as well. So, it&rsquo;s a very proud moment for me and I cherish and really appreciate that World Athletics has given me this award.&rdquo;
Back in 2017, Warholm was celebrating having won his first world title, just a couple of years after switching his focus from multi events to the single one-lap discipline. &ldquo;I figured what I liked even more than being a multi evener was to win and I wanted to go to the Olympics,&rdquo; Warholm, the 2013 world U18 octathlon champion and 2015 European U20 decathlon silver medallist, has explained.
His 2017 world gold, won in the rain in London, would prove to be just the start of his global success. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/a74b49ef-6abe-42dd-9c09-fad5a225bb82.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> 
After improving his PB to 47.64 when winning European gold the following year, Warholm retained his world title in Doha in 2019 and moved to second on the world all-time list with a 46.92 clocking in Zurich that same season.
He would remain in that No.2 spot, consolidated by the 46.87 he ran in Stockholm in August 2020, until the USA&rsquo;s Rai Benjamin pushed him down a place by running 46.83 at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene this June. That came at the beginning of a remarkable few months for the discipline, in both the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s events.
Five days later, Warholm lined up at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in his home Bislett Stadion in Oslo. Just 46.70 seconds after the gun went, he stormed over the finish line. The crowd, understandably, went wild, as did Warholm, with his time having taken 0.08 off the world record which had been set by Kevin Young at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, three and a half years before Warholm was even born.
"It might take another world record to win the Olympics,&rdquo; he said at the time.
He was right.
In Tokyo, in what proved to be one of the most incredible performances in athletics history, the Norwegian obliterated his own world record, running 45.94 to get gold in a race of remarkable depth. Behind him, both Benjamin and Brazil&rsquo;s Alison dos Santos finished inside Young&rsquo;s pre-2021 world record. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6108e095315c5c8e31410f1f.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> 
&ldquo;It has been an incredible journey and I was very lucky to have that 2017 season where I won the gold in the 400m hurdles in London and nobody expected it, not even myself,&rdquo; Warholm explains. &ldquo;It gave me the belief that I was able to perform at the highest level and win medals.
"Then I had a bit of a tough 2018, I was beaten a lot that year, but I got back in 2019 and started to run really quick. Through the pandemic, I was able to train very well. Then in 2021 I was able to break the world record on home soil in Oslo. It felt almost like fate. It has been a lot of hard work and I think it is also a lot about consistency. That is what I have probably learned the most: you need to have a lot of years to be able to build something. It has been a very fun journey and I hope it will continue.&rdquo;
Someone who will, without doubt, continue to join him for the ride is Leif Olav Alnes &ndash; Warholm&rsquo;s coach and mentor since 2015, but above all, his friend.
&ldquo;Me and Leif, we are first of all really good friends and we spend a lot of time together,&rdquo; Warholm says. &ldquo;I really enjoy our relationship and what is good is our communication, I think that is probably the key. He is the brain, he is the architect behind this, and I am the machinery, so we work really well together.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61a90de8270a3642437f6334.jpeg" alt="" width="100%" />
 A dream team, and despite so much having already been achieved by the duo, there is plenty more to aim for in the next few years, with the World Athletics Championships in Oregon in 2022 and Budapest in 2023, and then the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.
&ldquo;I like that there is a lot of championships coming up, because it keeps you on your toes and you know that there will always be a chance where you can perform,&rdquo; Warholm says. &ldquo;When you have the medals, everybody wants to be in your position, so all the guys are chasing me now. I need to be able to perform and it is all about putting in the work. But at the same time, it is also tough because you don&rsquo;t get a lot of time to restart the system.
&ldquo;What I was actually very surprised about is how tired you get after something like the Olympics. You spend so many years preparing for that moment and then it is like, boom, empty, right? It mostly motivates me to go out there and try to defend my titles. You can never promise anything, you don&rsquo;t know what you can do, but anything can happen and that is why we love the sport.&rdquo; 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-theme="dark">
"I&rsquo;m so happy for this," says newly crowned Male World Athlete of the Year <a href="https://twitter.com/kwarholm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kwarholm</a>. "First when I saw the time [in Tokyo], I was like, &lsquo;This must be a mistake!&rsquo; Because I didn&rsquo;t see that one coming. And I didn&rsquo;t see the victory coming before crossing the finish line." <a href="https://t.co/BMCma5VmHy">pic.twitter.com/BMCma5VmHy</a>
&mdash; World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldAthletics/status/1466112982010765324?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2021</a></blockquote>
 So those are his more immediate ambitions when it comes to the track, but how about his life aims in general?
&ldquo;It is difficult because right now, when you are an athlete, you are so focused that you forget that there is something coming after your career,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I sometimes think to myself that the only thing I know how to do is to run one lap with 10 hurdles!
&ldquo;What I can say is that I will always be good at getting over obstacles, and that is a nice thing to have on my resume. It&rsquo;s about finding a passion and that&rsquo;s what I like about where I am right now &ndash; this is my passion. Sometimes in an athletics career, you have to move on. It&rsquo;s a short career, and then I hope that I can find a new passion, something that I live and breathe for.
"I learn a lot from talking to people that are older than me because they have the life experience and it is funny to see how in life, there just comes chances and it is also about coincidences. It&rsquo;s just a coincidence that me and Leif met and we found a good tone. It is just about living and doing your best and a lot of things can happen, that is the fun part of it.&rdquo;
So, for now, he will continue to express that passion on the track &ndash; to train hard, compete and as a result, get recognised.
&ldquo;More people come to talk to me right now and take selfies, asking for autographs, especially children, and I like that, to be honest,&rdquo; he adds. &ldquo;Not just because of the recognition, that is one thing, but the other thing is I feel like I can inspire people somehow.
&ldquo;If you think about it, running 400m around a track and jumping over barriers, that is quite simple, but once you see what I see &ndash; what it gives to people and what they take from it &ndash; that is one of the things that makes it even more worth it for me.&rdquo;
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

It’s no surprise to hear that since the Tokyo Olympic Games, Norway’s men’s 400m hurdles champion and world record-holder Karsten Warholm has been receiving even more attention.

With great success comes rising recognition for award winner Warholm

Olympic champions Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica and Karsten Warholm of Norway have been named the World Athletes of the Year at the World Athletics Awards 2021, a ceremony held virtually on Wednesday (1).
Thompson-Herah produced one of the finest sprint seasons in history this year, retaining her Olympic 100m and 200m titles in Tokyo and adding a third gold medal in the 4x100m relay. On top of her Olympic triple, she also clocked world-leading times of 10.54 and 21.53 over 100m and 200m respectively, moving to second on the world all-time lists and coming within touching distance of the long-standing world records.
&ldquo;I just take it year by year,&rdquo; said Thompson-Herah. &ldquo;I went very close to the world record so you know, anything is possible. No spikes hanging up any time soon!
&ldquo;The World Championships in Oregon is most definitely my next big target,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;It is close to home, I hope friends and family can come out and watch. I hope I get some crowd as well. That couldn&rsquo;t happen in Tokyo but hopefully in Eugene I can get my friends and family to come and cheer me on.&rdquo;
Warholm uncorked one of the most remarkable performances in athletics history when he stormed to gold in the 400m hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics. Having already broken the world record with 46.70 in Oslo in the lead-up to the Games, Warholm exceeded all expectations in the Japanese capital to claim gold in a stunning world record of 45.94. In a race of incredible depth, the top three athletes finished inside the pre-2021 world record.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so happy for this,&rdquo; said Warholm. &ldquo;First when I saw the time (in Tokyo), I was like, &lsquo;This must be a mistake!&rsquo; Because I didn&rsquo;t see that one coming. And I didn&rsquo;t see the victory coming before crossing the finish line.
&ldquo;It was a very intense race, I knew the American and the Brazilian and all the other guys were really chasing me. I always go out hard and I never know what is going on behind me. I was just fighting all the way to the finish line. When I realised 45.94 was the reality, I was thinking: &lsquo;This is not too bad. I&rsquo;ll take it!&rsquo;"
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe congratulated all of tonight&rsquo;s winners and finalists on their extraordinary achievements this year.
"We have this year celebrated some jaw-dropping performances in Tokyo, at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi and through our one-day meeting circuits &ndash; the Wanda Diamond League and the Continental Tour. So we&rsquo;re delighted to recognise some of our stars at tonight&rsquo;s awards.
"As a sport, we are in an incredibly strong position. 2021 has been an excellent year. We cemented our position as the number 1 Olympic sport coming out of Tokyo, we have the most God given talented athletes on the planet and our sport is the most accessible of all sports. Thank you to all our athletes around the world. I am looking forward to watching what you can all do in 2022."
The other award winners were: 
Female Rising Star 
<h3>Athing Mu</h3>
The US teenager was undefeated at 800m all year, winning Olympic gold at the distance following a long but successful collegiate season. She broke the senior US 800m record with her triumph in Tokyo and then improved it to 1:55.04 just a few weeks later. She also excelled at 400m, clocking a North American U20 record of 49.57 for the distance.
&ldquo;It means the world to know that my support goes beyond friends and families and extends worldwide,&rdquo; said Mu. &ldquo;This award shows all young girls that your dreams can, indeed, come true."
&nbsp;
Male Rising Star 
<h3>Erriyon Knighton</h3>
Throughout 2021 the 17-year-old took down several marks that had belonged to sprint legend Usain Bolt. Knighton first set world U18 bests of 20.11 and 20.04 over 200m, but his rapid rise continued and he broke Bolt&rsquo;s world U20 record for the distance with 19.88 and 19.84. He went on to finish fourth in the Olympic final with 19.93.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really thankful for this award,&rdquo; said Knighton. &ldquo;One of my most memorable moments of this year was making it to the Olympic final in Tokyo and finishing fourth at the age of 17.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
Member Federations Award 
<h3>Federacion Costarricense de Atletismo (Costa Rica)</h3>
In recognition for their outstanding training, competition and development programme roll-out over the past 12 months, for their consultative work on the World Athletics Kids&rsquo; Athletics programme, and for successfully staging a host of international events over the past year.
&nbsp;
Inspiration Award 
<h3>Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi</h3>
The shared high jump victory between Qatar&rsquo;s Mutaz Barshim and Italy&rsquo;s Gianmarco Tamberi became one of the biggest talking points of the Olympic Games &ndash; not only for everything it represented in their own individual careers, having both battled serious injuries since the last Games, but mainly for the act of respect and sportsmanship between two friends.
&ldquo;It is just crazy if I think about this story,&rdquo; said Tamberi. &ldquo;Thank you very much for this trophy.
&ldquo;I now call Mutaz like five times a week because I need to speak with him. I feel that now we are not just friends, we are really like blood brothers.&rdquo;
Barshim added: &ldquo;I hope to inspire more people to love our sport and maybe share a gold one day!&rdquo;
&nbsp;
President&rsquo;s Award 
<h3>Peter Diamond, Executive Vice President of NBC Olympic programming</h3>
&ldquo;Athletics owes Peter a massive debt of gratitude,&rdquo; said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. &ldquo;Peter has worked alongside us for effectively 40 years and has been a constant source of great advice and wise counsel, and occasional humour that has softened the edges of any particular situation. And he has made athletics a lot better.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
Coaching Achievement Award 
<h3>Bobby Kersee</h3>
The US coach has guided the careers of many legendary athletes over the years, but this year two of his charges made history. Allyson Felix became the most decorated female track and field Olympian in history after winning her 10th and 11th Olympic gold medals in Tokyo, while training partner Sydney McLaughlin broke two world records in the 400m hurdles and claimed Olympic gold in the discipline.
&nbsp;
Woman of the Year Award 
<h3>Anju Bobby George</h3>
The former international long jump star from India is still actively involved in the sport. In 2016 she opened a training academy for young girls, which has already helped to produce a world U20 medallist. A constant voice for gender equality in her role as Senior Vice President of the Indian Athletics Federation, Bobby George also mentors schoolgirls for future leadership positions within the sport.
&nbsp;
Jean-Pierre Durand World Athletics Photograph of the Year 
<h3>Ryan Pierse&rsquo;s photograph of the women&rsquo;s high jump qualifying at the Tokyo Olympic Games</h3>
 <img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61925940447534976d7b8a81.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 This year&rsquo;s award is dedicated to the memory of Jean-Pierre Durand, one of the sport&rsquo;s most prolific photographers and photo chief for a number of World Athletics Series events, who died in October.
&ldquo;This winning image was taken on one of the morning sessions in Tokyo and it was a hot one,&rdquo; said Pierse, who is from Australia. &ldquo;I wanted to illustrate the heat and how it was affecting the athletes. It is a picture that I worked on for a while, and it all came together. I am really happy with it.
&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s incredibly fitting that this award is named in memory of Jean-Pierre Durand,&rdquo; added Pierse. &ldquo;I had the pleasure of working alongside him, most recently at the Tokyo Olympics.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

Olympic champions Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica and Karsten Warholm of Norway have been named the World Athletes of the Year

Thompson-Herah and Warholm named World Athletes of the Year

We continue our countdown to the World Athletics Awards 2021 on 1 December by taking a closer look at the achievements of the five women and five men who have this week been confirmed as the finalists for the Athlete of the Year awards.
&nbsp;
<h2>Elaine Thompson-Herah</h2>
In an outstanding year for sprinting, Elaine Thompson-Herah was the top performer in the world and became the first woman in history to win back-to-back Olympic sprint doubles.
The Jamaican got her 2021 season off to a strong start, speeding to a wind-assisted 10.76 and a wind-legal 10.78 in early May. She was surprisingly beaten in both disciplines in high-quality races at the Jamaican Championships, but her third-place finishes in 10.84 and 22.02 were more than sufficient to earn her places on the team for the Olympic Games.
Job done at the national championships, Thompson-Herah then headed to Europe to continue her preparation for the Games and showed she was rounding into top form with victory over 100m at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Szekesfehervar. She stopped the clock at 10.71, a Hungarian all-comers&rsquo; record and just one hundredth shy of her PB &ndash; but, more significantly, finishing comfortably ahead of compatriot and world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. 
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 In her final outing before heading to Tokyo, Thompson-Herah claimed a confidence-boosting victory over 200m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Gateshead, confirming she was ready to defend her Olympic titles in the Japanese capital.
Her Olympic campaign began with an incredibly easy looking 10.82 100m heat win &ndash; faster than the gold medal-winning times at all but four editions of the Games. And she then went even quicker in the semifinals, winning her race in 10.76.
But even then, her margin of supremacy and winning time in the final still came as a shock. Despite running into a -0.6m/s headwind, she claimed gold in an Olympic record of 10.61 to win by 0.13 &ndash; which, in sprinting terms, is significant.
Following one rest day to reflect on a Jamaican podium sweep in the shorter sprint, Thompson-Herah was back on track for the 200m. She ran a comfortable &ndash; though borderline risky &ndash; 22.86 to advance from her heat, but then looked imperious in the semifinals as she stopped the clock at an equal PB of 21.66, despite slamming on the proverbial brakes before the finish line.
After promising more, she delivered more in the final. She claimed 200m gold in 21.53, breaking the long-standing Jamaican record that had previously been held by sprint icon Merlene Ottey, and moving to second on the world all-time list.
&ldquo;The ups and downs (since the 2016 Olympics) have been so many,&rdquo; she said after her 200m victory. &ldquo;To come here five years later and to win two events is just amazing.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61055066a77afcf45a2f9b16.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 She wasn&rsquo;t done there, though. She capped her Olympic campaign three days later when teaming up with her Jamaican teammates to claim gold in the 4x100m, setting another national record with 41.02.
&ldquo;The feeling is surreal to capture three golds and we got a national record,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;We are grateful."
Many would have forgiven Thompson-Herah for taking her foot off the gas after the euphoria of her Olympic triple triumph, but she stunned the world yet again in her first race after the Games. Up against another high-quality 100m field at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Eugene, she stormed to victory in 10.54, consolidating her position as the second-fastest woman in history for the event.
She rounded out her season with a 10.64 run in Lausanne, finishing a close second to Fraser-Pryce, and victories in Paris (10.72) and at the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich (10.65) &ndash; her 15th sub-11-second performance of the year.
&ldquo;It was a long season with ups and downs,&rdquo; said the 29-year-old. &ldquo;But next year, the world record is definitely on my mind.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
<h2>Karsten Warholm</h2>
The men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles final in Tokyo was, without doubt, a defining moment for the sport.
The World Championships final in 2019 provided just a small taste of what to expect when Norway&rsquo;s Karsten Warholm held off USA&rsquo;s Rai Benjamin to retain his title. And while the pandemic forced the postponement of the Olympics, it also increased the anticipation for the most hotly contested discipline of the No.1 sport at the Games.
Benjamin was the first to show his cards in 2021. The talented all-round sprinter clocked a world-leading 47.13 in early May and followed it with victory at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha. Warholm, meanwhile, opened his outdoor campaign by breaking his own world best in the 300m hurdles with 33.26.
Benjamin then responded with a 46.83 run to win the US Olympic Trials, displacing Warholm in the No.2 spot on the world all-time list and coming within 0.05 of the long-standing world record. But Warholm, in his first 400m hurdles race of the year, finally accomplished what he&rsquo;d been threatening to do for the past few years and broke Kevin Young&rsquo;s world record with a 46.70 run at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Oslo. 
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 "It has been really tough sitting at home and doing hard work and knowing that people are taking a shot at that world record for a long time, and seeing how Rai ran at the Trials,&rdquo; said Warholm. &ldquo;All respect to my competitors but it's very special and nice for me to be able to be the first to break that world record. It was important to me. It&rsquo;s also very special to do it here in Bislett in front of a great crowd, and I really think there is more in the tank.&rdquo;
He wasn&rsquo;t wrong. He won in Monaco eight days later with 47.08, improving on his own meeting record set 12 months prior, confirming all was on track for the Olympics later that month.
Warholm breezed through the rounds in Tokyo, winning his heat in 48.65 and his semifinal in 47.30 &ndash; faster than his gold medal-winning times at the past two World Championships and the 2018 European Championships. All the big contenders, Benjamin included, also safely advanced to the final, setting the scene for a mouth-watering showdown.
It didn&rsquo;t disappoint. The duo pushed one another the entire way, but Warholm ultimately proved the strongest, edging ahead in the closing stages to cross the line victorious.
Then people looked to the clock, and for a brief moment it appeared as though the figures may be incorrect. Surely it wasn&rsquo;t possible for a human to break 46 seconds for the event? But then, Warholm has always seemed borderline superhuman. And soon his winning time was confirmed at a staggering 45.94.
In what will go down as not only the best ever 400m hurdles race but one of the greatest moments in athletics history, the rest of the field produced stunning times too. Benjamin finished second in 46.17 &ndash; well inside the previous world record &ndash; and Brazilian youngster Alison dos Santos claimed bronze in 46.72, faster than Young&rsquo;s pre-2021 world record time. The athletes in fourth, fifth and sixth all finished comfortably inside 48 seconds. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6108e095315c5c8e31410f1f.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 &ldquo;This is by far the biggest moment of my life,&rdquo; said Warholm. &ldquo;Last night I had this special feeling in my chest when I'm nervous. It's the feeling I had as a six-year-old on Christmas Eve. It's a feeling you don't think you'll ever have again. But I had it last night.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just so big,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;I had a world championships (gold). I had European championships. I had the world record, the European record. The Olympic gold medal is what everybody talks about. I knew this race was going to be the toughest of my life, but I was ready.&rdquo;
He maintained his 400m hurdles winning streak after the Olympics, claiming the Wanda Diamond League crown in Zurich in 47.35 before wrapping up his season with victory at the ISTAF meeting in Berlin.
Even then, almost six weeks after his triumph at the Games, few had managed to contextualise what Warholm had achieved in Tokyo. But perhaps his arch-rival Benjamin put it best when, in the aftermath of the Olympic final, he said: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Usain Bolt&rsquo;s 9.5 was better than this.&rdquo;
And not many would disagree.

We take a closer look at the achievements of the five women and five men who have been confirmed as finalists for Athlete of the Year.

Focus on finalists: Elaine Thompson-Herah and Karsten Warholm

With nine days to go until the&nbsp;World Athletics Awards 2021, the names of the five finalists for Male World Athlete of the Year have been confirmed.
The five athletes, who represent five countries from three area associations, have produced some exceptional performances across a range of athletics disciplines in 2021, at the Tokyo Olympic Games, one-day meeting circuits and other events around the world.
The finalists are (in alphabetical order):
Joshua Cheptegei, UGA - Olympic 5000m champion - Olympic 10,000m silver medallist - World-leading 8:09.55 for two miles
Ryan Crouser, USA - Olympic and Diamond League shot put champion - Undefeated all year - World shot put records indoors and outdoors
Mondo Duplantis, SWE - Olympic pole vault champion - Diamond League pole vault champion - European indoor pole vault champion
Eliud Kipchoge, KEN - Olympic marathon champion - Largest winning margin in men&rsquo;s Olympic marathon since 1972 - Winner of Enschede Marathon
Karsten Warholm, NOR - Olympic 400m hurdles champion&nbsp; - Diamond League 400m hurdles champion - World 400m hurdles record and world 300m hurdles best 
<h3>Voting procedure for 2021 World Athletes of the Year</h3>
A three-way voting process determined the finalists.
The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family cast their votes by email, while fans voted online via the World Athletics social media platforms. The World Athletics Council&rsquo;s vote counted for 50% of the result, while the World Athletics Family&rsquo;s votes and the public votes each counted for 25% of the final result.
Voting closed on 6 November.
The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced at the World Athletics Awards 2021, which will be held virtually on 1 December.
World Athletics

Finalists announced for Male World Athlete of the Year 2021

On Thursday (18) in Oslo&rsquo;s Bislett Stadium, the Svein Arne Hansen Memorial Room was officially opened at a ceremony attended by two Bislett world record-breakers: Karsten Warholm and David Moorcroft.
European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen died in office on Saturday 20 June last year at the age of 74, after failing to recover from the stroke that he suffered in March 2020.
Hansen had served as the meeting director of the world famous Bislett Games for 24 years, during which time it was a member of the Grand Prix, Golden Four and the Golden League.
Appropriately, the ceremony to mark Hansen&rsquo;s memory was organised by the Bislett Games&rsquo; current meeting director Steinar Hoen and attended by Hansen&rsquo;s widow Jamme, their children and grandchildren.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, who was unable to attend as he was chairing the World Athletics Congress, sent a video message which included this poignant reflection: &ldquo;With Svein Arne&rsquo;s death, athletics lost a hugely popular, passionate supporter, an ultra-professional meeting director and administrator. I lost one of my closest friends.&rdquo; 
<h2>Bislett&rsquo;s world record past meets its present</h2>
The afternoon&rsquo;s event in the new room commenced with historic donations to the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/heritage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Athletics Heritage Collection</a> and the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/heritage/mowa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Museum of World Athletics</a> (MOWA) by two famous world record-breakers from the history of the Bislett Games.
Britain&rsquo;s David Moorcroft donated the right shoe which he wore when setting a surprise 5000m world record in Bislett on 7 July 1982 (13:00.41) that improved Henry Rono&rsquo;s mark by nearly six seconds. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6197516e1a1e7845259d3f6c.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> (&copy; Andre Hjorteseth) 
&ldquo;I am very pleased my world record spike is now part of MOWA. It has been stored at home all these years. The other shoe and my vest I loaned out a long time ago. I don&rsquo;t have my number, which I gave away to someone in the crowd in Bislett,&rdquo; said Moorcroft.
<blockquote>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/heritage/news/david-moorcroft-bislett-mowa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here</a> to read a feature story: The night that Moorcroft took Bislett&rsquo;s breath away
</blockquote>
<img style="float: right; margin-left: 20px;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/619759c0417f51e655587948.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="450" />Norway&rsquo;s Karsten Warholm, the current world and Olympic 400m hurdles champion who broke Kevin Young&rsquo;s 29-year-old world record in Oslo on 1 July 2021 (46.70), in turn presented one of the spikes (left shoe) which he wore on that occasion.
&ldquo;I look forward to the display of my shoe in Eugene next summer at the World Championships and to seeing the 3D spin when it enters the museum,&rdquo; commented Warholm. His world record spike will join MOWA&rsquo;s displays before the end of this year. On 3 August, when winning the Tokyo Olympic title, Warholm smashed the world record again with a 45.94 run.
Sadly, Hansen never lived to see &lsquo;The Viking&rsquo; break the world record or win an Olympic title. He would no doubt have been especially delighted by Warholm&rsquo;s participation in Thursday&rsquo;s tribute to his lifelong contribution to the sport which he loved. 
<h2>Heritage Plaques honour Bislett Games and Waitz</h2>
During the ceremony two World Athletics Heritage Plaques were also unveiled in their permanent locations in the new room.
The <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/heritage/plaque" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Athletics Heritage Plaque</a> is a location-based recognition, awarded for &ldquo;an outstanding contribution to the worldwide history and development of the sport of track and field athletics.&rdquo;&nbsp;
The first plaque unveiled honours the history of the Bislett Games, which was founded in 1924, and its marquee event the Dream Mile (awarded 2019; category &lsquo;Competition&rsquo;). 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61975a9b417f51e65558794b.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> (&copy; Andre Hjorteseth)
 The second plaque celebrates the distinguished career of Norway&rsquo;s legendary <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/heritage/news/grete-waitz-new-york-city-marathon-comic-feature" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grete Waitz</a> (awarded 2021; posthumous category &ldquo;Legend&rdquo;), who ran two 3000m world records in the Bislett Stadium. Waitz, the inaugural world marathon champion, tragically died of cancer in 2011, aged 57. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61975aca417f51e65558794e.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> (&copy; Andre Hjorteseth)
 Among the distinguished guests present for the unveiling were Jack Waitz, Grete&rsquo;s husband and coach.
Chris Turner for World Athletics Heritage

On Thursday in Oslo’s Bislett Stadium, the Svein Arne Hansen Memorial Room was officially opened at a ceremony attended by two Bislett world record-breakers.

Warholm and Moorcroft's world record spike donations mark opening of Hansen Memorial Room

This week marks the opening of the voting process for the 2021 World Athletes of the Year ahead of the&nbsp;World Athletics Awards 2021&nbsp;to be held in December.
World Athletics is pleased to confirm a list of 10 nominees for Male World Athlete of the Year who were selected by an international panel of athletics experts, comprising representatives from all six continental areas of World Athletics.
The nominations reflect the remarkable range of exceptional performances that the sport has witnessed this year, at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, one-day meeting circuits and other events around the world.
Commenting on the Awards, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: &ldquo;As always, the World Athletics Awards will recognise athletes who have performed at the highest level across the year, taking into account not only the Olympic Games, but the one-day meeting circuits. We do recognise that athletes in some parts of the world faced greater challenges than others in accessing international competition this year, which complicated the nomination process. However, we saw some impressive breakthroughs at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and we look forward to those athletes having more opportunities to shine next year, with five World Athletics Series events and a full schedule of one-day meetings on the calendar."
The nominees for 2021 Male World Athlete of the Year are (in alphabetical order):
Joshua Cheptegei, UGA - Olympic 5000m champion - Olympic 10,000m silver medallist - World-leading 8:09.55 for two miles
Ryan Crouser, USA - Olympic and Diamond League shot put champion - Undefeated all year - World shot put records indoors and outdoors
Mondo Duplantis, SWE - Olympic pole vault champion - Diamond League pole vault champion - European indoor pole vault champion
Jakob Ingebrigtsen, NOR - Olympic 1500m champion - European indoor 1500m champion - European 1500m and 5000m records
Eliud Kipchoge, KEN - Olympic marathon champion - Largest winning margin in men&rsquo;s Olympic marathon since 1972 - Winner of Enschede Marathon
Pedro Pichardo, POR - Olympic triple jump champion - Diamond League triple jump champion - European indoor triple jump champion
Daniel Stahl, SWE - Olympic discus champion - Diamond League discus champion - Threw world-leading 71.40m
Miltiadis Tentoglou, GRE - Olympic long jump champion - European indoor long jump champion - Jumped world-leading 8.60m
Damian Warner, CAN - Olympic decathlon champion - Winner at the G&ouml;tzis Hypo Meeting - National and Olympic record of 9018, moved to fourth on the world all-time list
Karsten Warholm, NOR - Olympic 400m hurdles champion&nbsp; - Diamond League 400m hurdles champion - World 400m hurdles record and world 300m hurdles best
A three-way voting process will determine the finalists.
The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the World Athletics social media platforms. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram this week; a 'like' on Facebook and Instagram or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote.
The World Athletics Council&rsquo;s vote will count for 50% of the result, while the World Athletics Family&rsquo;s votes and the public votes will each count for 25% of the final result.
Voting for the World Athletes of the Year closes at midnight on Saturday 6 November. At the conclusion of the voting process, five men and five women finalists will be announced by World Athletics.
The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced live at the World Athletics Awards 2021 in December.&nbsp;
Further information about the World Athletics Awards 2021 will be announced in the weeks leading up to the event.
The female nominees will be announced tomorrow, Friday 22 October.
World Athletics

World Athletics is pleased to confirm a list of 10 nominees for Male World Athlete of the Year.

Nominees announced for Male World Athlete of the Year 2021

Women&rsquo;s world triple jump record 15.67m Yulimar Rojas (VEN) Tokyo 1 August 2021 Men&rsquo;s world 400m hurdles record 45.94 Karsten Warholm (NOR) Tokyo 3 August 2021 Women&rsquo;s world 400m hurdles record 51.46 Sydney McLaughlin (USA) Tokyo 4 August 2021 The world records set by Yulimar Rojas, Karsten Warholm and Sydney McLaughlin to win their Olympic gold medals in Tokyo have been ratified.
History was made in the women&rsquo;s triple jump, men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles and women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles over the course of four days in Japan&rsquo;s capital city as Venezuela&rsquo;s Rojas, Norway&rsquo;s Warholm and the USA&rsquo;s McLaughlin each took their events to another level.
First came Rojas&rsquo; record leap on 1 August. Soaring out to an incredible 15.67m, the 25-year-old secured Venezuela&rsquo;s first Olympic title in athletics.
The two-time world champion had opened her campaign with an Olympic triple jump record of 15.41m and by the time she lined up for her final effort, Rojas&rsquo; victory was guaranteed. With her last attempt, she sailed even further to add 17 centimetres to the previous world record that had been set by Ukraine&rsquo;s Inessa Kravets on 10 August 1995 at the World Championships in Gothenburg.
&ldquo;I am lost for words; I can&rsquo;t describe this feeling and this moment,&rdquo; Rojas said. &ldquo;Gold medal winner, with an Olympic record, and a world record ... Wow. It is a fantastic night.&rdquo;
Two days later it was Warholm&rsquo;s turn as he smashed the 400m hurdles world record in 45.94 to win one of the most highly anticipated showdowns of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Leading the highest quality men's 400m hurdles race in history, the 25-year-old took gold ahead of the USA's Rai Benjamin, whose 46.17 for silver also beat the previous world record of 46.70 which had been set by Warholm in Oslo on 1 July. Brazil&rsquo;s Alison dos Santos took bronze in 46.72, a time inside the world record that had belonged to Kevin Young from 1992 until that day in Norway at the start of July.
&ldquo;It's so crazy,&rdquo; Warholm said. &ldquo;This is by far the biggest moment of my life.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I was so focused on getting that last medal in my collection and now it&rsquo;s all complete,&rdquo; the two-time world champion added. &ldquo;I need to set myself new goals, I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m done yet.&rdquo;
The following day McLaughlin also improved her own world 400m hurdles record, storming to gold in 51.46 as her US teammate Dalilah Muhammad finished second in 51.58, also well inside McLaughlin&rsquo;s previous world record of 51.90 set at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene on 27 June. Femke Bol of the Netherlands was third in 52.03, a mark faster than the world record Muhammad had held until McLaughlin broke it earlier in the season.
McLaughlin&rsquo;s 51.46 to lead the deepest women's 400m hurdles race in global championships history is a time which, up until 1970, would have bettered the world record in the 400m flat.
"I saw Dalilah ahead of me with one (hurdle) to go,&rdquo; McLaughlin said. &ldquo;I just thought: 'Run your race'. The race doesn't really start until hurdle seven. I just wanted to go out there and give it everything I had.&rdquo;
World Athletics

The world records set by Yulimar Rojas, Karsten Warholm and Sydney McLaughlin to win their Olympic gold medals in Tokyo have been ratified.

Ratified: world records for Rojas, Warholm and McLaughlin in Tokyo

There could hardly be a more suitable setting for the Wanda Diamond League&rsquo;s first European stop after the Tokyo Olympics than the Swiss city that happens to be home to the Olympic Museum.
The glittering array of stellar track and field talent lined up for the main programme of the Athletissima meet in Lausanne on Thursday (26), and the City High Jump that precedes it on Wednesday (25), were responsible for claiming a colossal haul of 19 gold medals in Japan&rsquo;s capital city, several of them earning their rewards with landmark achievements in the Olympic arena.
Norway&rsquo;s 400m hurdling Superman Karsten Warholm and the regal Venezuelan triple jumper Yulimar Rojas did so with world-record-shattering aplomb. The Jamaican sprint queen Elaine Thompson-Herah, the US big shot Ryan Crouser and the princely Norwegian middle distance master Jakob Ingebritsen did so with Olympic record-breaking marks.
Add the Swedish pole vault phenomenon Armand Duplantis to the mix and you have a magnificent seven (possibly more) capable of making further track and field history in the high-octane, adrenaline-charged melting pot that is sure to be the Stade Olympic de la Pontaise with an expected capacity 12,200 crowd.
There is also the small matter of the hors d&rsquo;oeuvre to the main course.
The city men&rsquo;s high jump on Wednesday (25) had been scheduled to reunite the gentlemanly Qatari Mutaz Essa Barshim and the grand Italian showman Gianmarco Tamberi, the close friends and rivals who harnessed the kind of Olympic spirit celebrated in Lausanne&rsquo;s historic showcase to the Games by agreeing to share the gold medal spoils in Tokyo. That was until the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al-Thani, asked Barshim to be his guest of honour at a celebratory function back home on Thursday &ndash; an invitation that could not be refused.
Still, Tamberi will be joined in Lausanne&rsquo;s city centre by Maksim Nedasekau, the Belarussian who fulfilled the Harry Lime role as the Third Man of the event in the Japanese capital &ndash; and who, lest it be forgotten, also cleared 2.37m to claim his bronze.
Thompson-Herah was the leading lady of the classic women&rsquo;s 100m final in Tokyo, clipping 0.01 off Florence Griffith-Joyner&rsquo;s 33-year-old Olympic record with a 10.61 clocking that made her the second fastest of all time behind the late US athlete.
Having blitzed to a 10.54 Diamond League record in Eugene, the 25-year-old Jamaican has now propelled herself within thinking distance, at least, of FloJo&rsquo;s long-deemed-untouchable 10.49 world record that dates back to the 1988 US Olympic Trials in Indianapolis.
&ldquo;I think the records are in reach because I ran 10.5 and I have so much more within me,&rdquo; Thompson-Herah confessed in the aftermath of her Eugene performance. &ldquo;I have a mission to complete.&rdquo;
There has been a 100m world record on the Pointaise track before, of course. At the 1994 meeting Leroy Burrell shaved 0.01 off his close friend Carl Lewis&rsquo; men&rsquo;s mark with a 9.85 clocking. Naturally, thoughts and prayers on the eve of another edition of the Athletissima will be with the former US sprinter, following the tragic death earlier this month of his son Cameron, a world U20 4x100m gold medallist.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, the compatriots who followed Thompson-Herah across the line in Tokyo and Eugene, will be seeking to get closer in another clean sweep this time.
The loaded field also includes the three women who took fourth, fifth and sixth behind the Jamaican trio in the Olympic final: Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast and the Swiss duo Ajla del Ponte and Mujinga Kambundji. Del Ponte maintained her momentum with a 10.90 national record in La Chaud-de-Fonds on 14 August, while Kambundji recorded a wind-assisted 22.06 win ahead of Olympic bronze medallist Gabby Thomas in the 200m in Eugene.
Last year&rsquo;s Athletissima was restricted to city centre action and the men&rsquo;s pole vault produced a competition for the ages, Duplantis and Sam Kendricks duelling inexorably upwards as the sun set over Switzerland&rsquo;s fourth largest municipality. It was the first contest in which two men cleared 6.02m, the Swede prevailing with 6.07m and his US rival clearing 6.02m.
This year Duplantis will be one of the new Olympic gold medallists in action in the main programme. After securing victory in Tokyo with what was, by his elevated standards, a routine first-time 6.02m clearance, he had three unsuccessful shots at raising his world record by one centimetre to 6.19m. Others having taken the spotlight in Tokyo with stunning new global and Olympic Games marks in their events, what price on Duplantis stealing the show with a 6.19m clearance in La Pontaise? 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/ecffa140-7643-4f35-8845-a965f556deb5.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Kendricks, the two-time world champion, will be back in action and raring to go after the frustration of missing out on the Olympic Games because of a positive Covid Test. His US teammate Chris Nilsen, who took silver in Tokyo, and France&rsquo;s former world record-holder Renaud Lavillenie are also in the field.
The most jaw-dropping world record on the track and in the field in Tokyo was, of course, Karsten Warholm&rsquo;s Beamoneque, Boltesque &ndash; and perhaps now known as Warholmesque &ndash; 45.94 in the 400m hurdles. The Norwegian&rsquo;s time would have won every Olympic flat 400m final until 1960.
The big question in Lausanne will be how fast the great metaphorical barrier-breaker can run one lap without any physical barriers in his way?
Warholm&rsquo;s Norwegian record in the event, 44.87, dates back to 2017 and in 2019 he won the European indoor title in Glasgow, equalling Thomas Schonlebe&rsquo;s 31-year-old continental indoor record on &lsquo;the boards&rsquo; of 45.05. The German&rsquo;s ancient European outdoor record, 44.33, will be in Warholm&rsquo;s sights.
In the immediate aftermath of Warholm&rsquo;s wonder run in Tokyo, the former world and Olympic 200m and 400m champion and world record holder Michael Johnson urged the 25-year-old to aim for a place in the history books as a 400m flat world champion.
The two-time 400m hurdles world champion will get an immediate chance to measure his credentials against three fellow medal winners from Tokyo: 43.72 performer Isaac Makwala (a 4x400m bronze medallist for Botswana), 44.40 man Vernon Norwood (who earned gold in the men&rsquo;s 4x400m and bronze in the mixed 4x400m) and 44.48 runner Liemarvin Bonevacia ( a member of the Netherlands&rsquo; silver medal winning 4x400m team). Also in the field in Wilbert London, who won two relay golds for the US at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.
Norway&rsquo;s other young gun of an Olympic track champion, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, also switches events, from 1500m to 3000m &ndash; and, like Warholm, he too has a European record in his sights.
At 20, the youngest of the Ingebrigtsen brothers already owns the continental marks for 1500m and 5000m and in Lausanne his sights will be set on Mohammed Mourhit&rsquo;s 3000m figures of 7:26.62.
In potentially the most intriguing race of the night, the Olympic 1500m champion (and 3:47.24 Diamond League mile record setter in Eugene last Saturday) faces five medal winners from three other events in Tokyo.
They include two rivals who boast a similarly impressive scope, and who have both run 7:26 either indoors or out in the past 11 months: Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega of Ethiopia and 10,000m bronze medallist Jacob Kiplimo, the Ugandan who won the world half marathon title last year.
The stacked field also features the second and third finishers from the 5000m final in Tokyo, Canada&rsquo;s Moh Ahmed and Paul Chelimo of the USA, and Ethiopia&rsquo;s world and Olympic steeplechase silver medallist Lamecha Girma.
Crouser only has two medallists to contend with in the shot, the men who took silver and gold behind his Olympic record 23.30m in Tokyo: US teammate Joe Kovacs and New Zealander Tom Walsh, respectively reigning world champions outdoors and in. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/9f479615-db2f-4bfe-92b7-17742119a290.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Having thrown a Diamond League record of 23.15m on home state ground in Eugene on Saturday, Crouser is on a record roll. Unbeaten in 21 finals now since losing the 2019 world outdoor title to Kovacs by one centimetre, his two-month-old world record figures, 23.37m, might be ready for revision.
Rojas&rsquo;s global triple jump mark, 15.67m, is just over three weeks old but the long-legged Venezuelan could have it in her sights, having decided to switch from the long jump to contest her speciality in Lausanne. Portugal&rsquo;s Patricia Mamona, who took silver in Tokyo with 15.01m, also competes.
Like the men&rsquo;s shot put and the women&rsquo;s 100m, the women&rsquo;s high jump features the Olympic 1-2-3, Mariya Lasitskene locking horns again with the upwardly mobile Australian Nicola McDermott and Ukraine&rsquo;s Yaroslava Mahuchikh.
The men&rsquo;s 800m boasts the top seven from Tokyo, led by medal winners Emmanuel Korir and Ferguson Rotich of Kenya and Pole Patryk Dobek but, sadly, illness has deprived the men&rsquo;s javelin of India&rsquo;s freshly-crowned Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra. Jakub Vadlejch and Vitezslav Vesely, the Czechs who took silver and bronze, will have world all-time No.2 Johannes Vetter &ndash; a disappointing ninth in Tokyo &ndash; to contend with. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/f7ee009f-bcc2-481a-befe-3356a74a3298.png" alt="" width="100%" />
 Jamaica&rsquo;s Hansle Parchment lines up as Olympic champion in the 110m hurdles, while Bahamian 400m winner Steven Gardener drops down to the 200m to face USA&rsquo;s Kenny Bednarek and Fred Kerley, the Olympic silver medallists over 200m and 100m respectively.
The women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles is sure to be an emotional affair. At 31, Lea Sprunger will be bidding farewell on home ground. The European champion faces world champion Dalilah Muhammad of the United States and Olympic bronze medallist Femke Bol from the Netherlands.
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics

There could hardly be a more suitable setting for the Wanda Diamond League’s first European stop after the Tokyo Olympics than the Swiss city that happens to be home to the Olympic Museum.

Olympic stars ready to shine in Lausanne

Olympic champions Karsten Warholm, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Sifan Hassan are among the stars from the Tokyo Games who are set to compete at the penultimate Wanda Diamond League meeting of the season, the Allianz Memorial Van Damme, in Brussels on 3 September.
For Warholm, who broke his own world 400m hurdles record in Tokyo when he clocked 45.94, it will be his first time competing at the meeting and in Brussels he will line up alongside five other athletes who featured in that world record race. They are Alison dos Santos, who ran 46.72 to claim bronze in Tokyo, plus Kyron McMaster, Abderrahman Samba, Yasmani Copello and Rasmus Magi.
Thompson-Herah also lit up the Tokyo track as she won a golden treble in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m. She will be seeking more success in Brussels but again faces a top field in the 200m, with Dina Asher-Smith, Shericka Jackson, Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson and Marie-Josee Ta Lou also among the entries.
Hassan is another treble Olympic gold medallist from Tokyo who will be racing in Brussels. In June the Dutch star ran 29:06.82 to break the world 10,000m record in Hengelo but just two days later Ethiopia&rsquo;s Letesenbet Gidey went even faster with 29:01.03 on the same track. Hassan now looks set to target getting that world record back at the Memorial Van Damme.
Kenya&rsquo;s Hellen Obiri, the two-time world champion who claimed 5000m silver behind Hassan in Tokyo, will race that event in Brussels, while Grenada&rsquo;s Kirani James &ndash; who completed the Olympic 400m medal set with bronze in Tokyo &ndash; heads the entries for the one-lap event.

Olympic champions Karsten Warholm, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Sifan Hassan are among the stars from the Tokyo Games who are set to compete.

Warholm among Olympic champions set to star in Brussels

It was 24 hours that shook up the athletics world. Two races, taking a cumulative 97 seconds, that will forever be etched into the sport&rsquo;s memory.
For decades to come, they&rsquo;ll talk of this week&rsquo;s Olympic 400m hurdles finals as events that changed everything we thought we knew about the limits of human performance. First there was the men&rsquo;s race and that magnificent, mind-altering moment when Karsten Warholm crossed the finish line and the digits on the clock, somehow, read 45.95.
His time was 0.76 seconds faster than anyone had ever run, and 0.84 faster than anyone not named Warholm. Not so much one small step for man as one giant leap towards a new era in the event they call the man-killer. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6108e095315c5c8e31410f1f.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 The adrenaline had barely stopped flowing for athletics fans when, the very next morning, along came a trio of generational talents for the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles final. Sydney McLaughlin led them home in 51.46, 0.44 quicker than the world record, and 0.70 quicker than anyone not named McLaughlin had ever run.
A couple of hours later, the US 21-year-old sat in front of a room of journalists and tried to explain what it meant to have helped her event progress with such a quantum leap.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not one of the hot events people would usually watch,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s definitely been made something interesting. Every time we step on the track, there&rsquo;s some record being broken and it&rsquo;s exciting to be a part of that and push the boundaries.&rdquo;
Muhammad, a decade older than McLaughlin at 31, knew exactly what she was talking about.
&ldquo;It hasn&rsquo;t always been that way,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been part of it on the journey from the event no one watched to the event everybody wants to watch and being the main event. I&rsquo;m proud to be part of that.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610a044efa270532d9056ba7.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 A day before, Rai Benjamin had neatly captured the mood after producing what was likely the best performance in athletics history that was not rewarded with victory, clocking 46.17.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s insane,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;All of us came out and tore it to pieces. Now we&rsquo;re in a different stratosphere.&rdquo;
Warholm was asked shortly after his race whether he&rsquo;d just been part of the greatest race in history.
&ldquo;Your words, not mine,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I think it&rsquo;s up there. I hope it will be.&rdquo;
Listening to the four over the past couple of days, along with bronze medallists Alison dos Santos (who set a South American record of 46.72) and Femke Bol (who set a European record of 52.03), it was clear we are living through the definitive golden era of the 400m hurdles.
This captivating crop of talent has pushed the boundaries into a previously unthinkable place, and while there&rsquo;s no doubt improved track and spike technology could have played a part, the way in which these athletes have demarcated their discipline from other events at the Games &ndash; events where such breakthroughs have not occurred &ndash; means the chief explanation is very straightforward: this is a generation of genuine all-time greats.
Since Muhammad and McLaughlin began their assaults on Yuliya Pechonkina&rsquo;s world record of 52.34, set in 2003, they have taken a total of 0.88 off the mark, reducing it by 1.29%.
With his pair of world records this summer, Warholm has hacked 0.88 from the record held by Kevin Young since 1992, a reduction of 1.79%.
This happens on occasion in athletics &ndash; clusters of champions popping up together, driving standards higher &ndash; though usually such breakthroughs occur due to one outlying individual. Here are some of the most memorable athletes to blaze a groundbreaking trail in their respective events. 
<h2>Bob Beamon, 1968 Mexico City Olympics</h2>
The word Beamonesque was thrown around quite a bit on Tuesday &ndash; a description usually reserved for a breakthrough so colossal that the initial assumption is it must be some kind of mistake.
The US jumper was 22 when he ventured into thin air in Mexico City to chase Olympic glory in the long jump, for which he was the favourite after winning 22 of the 23 events he contested that year. The world record at the time was 8.35m, held jointly by Igor Ter-Ovanesyan of the Soviet Union and Ralph Boston of USA. In the 33 years prior to 1968, since Jessie Owens set the world record at 8.13m, it had been improved seven times, but all those added up to just 23cm.
And then along came Beamon. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60a43319c53f322605687f6e.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Tony Duffy's iconic photograph of Bob Beamon's world record leap in Mexico City (&copy; Getty Images)
 With a perfect 2.0m/s wind he soared into the Mexico City sky, coming down close to the edge of the pit. His world record of 8.90m added 65cm to the previous mark, an astonishing 7.78% improvement. The mark stood for 23 years before Mike Powell bettered it during the unforgettable 1991 long jump final, where he edged Carl Lewis to gold with 8.95m. &nbsp; 
<h2>Paula Radcliffe, 2003 London Marathon</h2>
Before the British great took her talents to the marathon in 2002, the women&rsquo;s world record stood to Kenya&rsquo;s Catherine Ndereba at 2:18:47, and it had been improved four times in the four years prior to her lining up at the Chicago Marathon in 2002. She made her debut six months earlier in London, missing the world record by just 11 seconds, but in Chicago she carved 89 seconds off Ndereba&rsquo;s mark, running 2:17:18, before taking another 113 seconds off that mark six months later in London, clocking 2:15:25. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/ff1cec63-604c-49ca-bd3d-b4eb0f39477f.png" alt="" width="100%" /> Paula Radcliffe in London with her world record figures&nbsp;(&copy; Getty Images) 
Over the course of her second and third marathons, Radcliffe had taken a whopping 3:22 off Ndereba&rsquo;s mark, a reduction of 2.42%. Her mark stood unchallenged for 16 years before Brigid Kosgei took another 81 seconds off it in Chicago in 2019, a record that still stands. 
<h2>Usain Bolt, 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2009 Berlin World Championships</h2>
Two races, exactly one year apart, accounted for a 0.14 improvement in the men&rsquo;s 100m world record, which has remained static ever since that magnificent 2009 World Championships in Berlin. Before 2008 most people thought of Usain Bolt as a 200m runner &ndash; including his coach &ndash; but Bolt long reckoned he had the gears to become the fastest man in the world and urged Glen Mills to let him try it.
In 2008 he proved himself capable, taking 0.02 off Asafa Powell&rsquo;s world record when clocking 9.72 in New York and he then shook up the sprinting world even more with one of the all-time Olympic moments in Beijing, clocking 9.69 despite beating his chest in celebration before the finish line. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610a74b2f156c11fcf06197a.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Usain Bolt breaks the world 100m record with 9.58 in Berlin&nbsp;(&copy; Getty Images) 
Twelve months later, again on 16 August, Bolt ran all the way to the line during the world 100m final in Berlin, clocking 9.58. No one has got within a tenth of a second of that time since. Bolt&rsquo;s three record runs accounted for a 1.64% improvement on Powell&rsquo;s mark. The two 200m world records he set in Beijing and Berlin accounted for a 0.67% reduction in Michael Johnson&rsquo;s long-standing world record of 19.32. 
<h2>Anita Wlodarczyk, 2009-2016 </h2>
One of the all-time greats of the sport, Wlodarczyk stepped into sporting history this week by winning her third consecutive hammer throw title in Tokyo, her 78.48m effort in Tuesday&rsquo;s final cementing her place in the pantheon of greats.
In addition to her four European titles and four world championship wins, the 35-year-old has rewritten the world record six times across a seven-year stretch. She set her first one at the 2009 World Championships in Beijing, her 77.96m throw adding 16cm to Tatyana Lysenko&rsquo;s mark. She added another 34cm the following year before surrendering the record to Germany&rsquo;s Betty Heidler, but Wlodarczyk reclaimed it in 2014 when throwing 79.58m. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/f039dfc4-4c88-4af7-b3a8-bff0eec6d5ee.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Anita Wlodarczyk at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games&nbsp;(&copy; Getty Images) 
In 2015 she extended it again to 81.08m, before twice breaking her own mark in 2016, with 82.29m at the Rio Olympics and then 82.92m in Chorzow, Poland, at the event named after her late friend Kamila Skolimowska. In total Wlodarczyk was responsible for improving the record by 4.18m, or a whopping 5.37%. 
<h2>Jan Zelezny, 1993-1996 </h2>
The history of the javelin world record is long and complicated, and we know nobody&rsquo;s got time for that midway through this Olympic programme, so here&rsquo;s a very brief synopsis: As the world record sailed past the 100-metre barrier in the mid-1980s new specifications were introduced to make things a little safer at your average athletics stadium, forcing the world record books to start afresh. The new mark went from 85.74m to 96.96m in the five years that followed.
Then the rules changed again, with javelins with serrated tails outlawed in 1991. By 1992 Steve Backley of Britain had the world record (on the specifications we use today) at 91.46m, but then along came Jan Zelezny, the Czech great who between 1993 and 1996 sent the world record out into the stratosphere. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610a76a9f156c11fcf06197d.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Czech javelin legend Jan Zelezny&nbsp;(&copy; Getty Images) 
He improved it three times to its current mark, 98.48m, which he set in Jena, Germany, in 1996. It meant Zelezny was responsible for a 7.67% improvement in the record. His mark seemed utterly untouchable for the next 24 years until September last year, when Germany&rsquo;s Johannes Vetter unleashed a 97.76m throw in Chorzow, Poland.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

It was 24 hours that shook up the athletics world. Two races, taking a cumulative 97 seconds, that will forever be etched into the sport’s memory.

Warholm and McLaughlin, the latest trailblazers redefining their sport

Breathtaking. Stunning. Epic.
There aren&rsquo;t enough superlatives to describe the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/news/tokyo-olympic-games-men-400m-hurdles-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles final</a> on Tuesday (3) at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
It was, quite simply, a race for the ages.
Norway&rsquo;s Karsten Warholm won the gold by holding off his great US rival Rai Benjamin and crossing the finish line in 45.94 seconds &ndash; obliterating his own world record by 0.76.
Benjamin clocked a North American record of 46.17, a time that was also faster than the world mark of 46.70 that Warholm set just last month in Oslo.
Brazil&rsquo;s Alison Dos Santos claimed the bronze in a South American record of 46.72, a time that would been a world record just a few weeks ago.
Overall, six of the eight runners set a world, area or national record.
Warholm and other athletes looked in disbelief when they saw the times on the scoreboard. The Norwegian tore open his singlet and held his mouth wide open in amazement. A dejected Benjamin wandered down the track by himself.
&ldquo;By far the biggest moment of my life,&rdquo; said Warholm, who added Olympic gold to his collection of world and European titles. "It&rsquo;s just so big. It&rsquo;s almost like history here. It was the only thing missing from my collection.
&ldquo;I had a world championships (gold). I had European championships. I had the world record, the European record. The Olympic gold medal is what everybody talks about. I knew this race was going to be the toughest of my life, but I was ready."
Benjamin put Warholm&rsquo;s world record in perspective.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Usain Bolt&rsquo;s 9.5 was better than this,&rdquo; he said, referring to the Jamaican&rsquo;s 100m world record of 9.58 set in 2009.
Warholm&rsquo;s win came a few minutes after world champion <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/news/tokyo-olympic-games-women-long-jump-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Malaika Mihambo of Germany won a compelling women&rsquo;s long jump final</a> that went right down to the wire. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6108e05e315c5c8e31410f1c.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Mihambo leapt 7.00m on her sixth and final jump to edge USA veteran Brittney Reese for the gold. Reese took silver with a top jump of 6.97m, adding to the silver she won in 2016 and gold in 2012. Nigeria&rsquo;s Ese Brume took bronze, also with 6.97m.
But nothing could top the hurdles final on yet another hot and humid morning at the Olympic Stadium.
The event had been one of the most anticipated events of these Games, and it lived up to the hype and then some.
The expectations started ramping up at the US Olympic Trials in June when Benjamin clocked 46.83, becoming only the fourth man ever to run under 47 seconds. Five days later, Warholm answered by running the 46.70 that broke Kevin Young&rsquo;s 29-year-old world record.
On Tuesday, Warholm got off to a fast start in lane six and kept up a narrow lead over Benjamin in lane five. Benjamin gained ground down the final straight and nearly pulled even with Warholm, but the Norwegian never buckled. Instead, he accelerated and powered through the final metres.
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t touch one hurdle,&rdquo; Warholm said. &ldquo;I was even able to find another gear coming home, so &lsquo;Wow&rsquo;.&rdquo;
Benjamin was in tears despite running the second fastest one-lap hurdles race of all-time.
&ldquo;Knowing that you want to be the best, this is what it costs,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard. It hurts. But it is what it is. Right now I am just full of emotion. I have worked so hard. This is what matters. I got a medal but it just hurts to lose."
Benjamin promised to be back to challenge Warholm for more titles and records.
"I&rsquo;m a dog,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a fighter. It&rsquo;s my first Olympics. I made some mistakes that cost me, but it&rsquo;s all right. I&rsquo;ll fix it.&rdquo;
In the women&rsquo;s long jump final, Brume took the early lead with a first-round jump of 6.97m, but Reese matched that on her third jump to move into first place.
After Brume regained the top spot with a jump of 6.88m on her fourth jump, Reese responded with 6.95m on her fifth jump to go back into the lead. Then, with the pressure on, Mihambo landed her 7.00m jump in the last round to put herself in gold medal position.
Reese had one shot to wrest the title from Mihambo on her final jump, but her 6.84m wasn&rsquo;t enough.
&ldquo;I feel overwhelmed,&rdquo; said Mihambo, the second German to win gold in the event after Heike Drechsler, who captured the title in 1992 and 2000. &ldquo;It was, I think, the most exciting women&rsquo;s long jump competition in history.&rdquo;
For the 34-year-old Reese, competing in her fourth and final Olympics, it was her record-equalling third medal in the long jump.
&ldquo;It is a great feeling,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I had a great career, and a great journey. I have been in this sport for 13 years, and I can&rsquo;t complain for finishing my career with a silver. It was a great competition, won by inches. I have 11 medals, and I am at my fourth Olympics and got medals in three of them. There is no reason to hang my head, I just got beaten today.&rdquo;
Meanwhile, Allyson Felix opened her bid for a record 10th Olympic medal by winning her 400m heat in 50.84, the fourth fastest of the day.
Competing in her fifth Olympics, and first as a mother, Felix is looking to add to her collection of six gold and three bronze medals. One more and she will become the most decorated woman in athletics history and equal Carl Lewis for the most medals by a US track and field athlete.
&ldquo;It is good to get going,&rdquo; Felix said. &ldquo;I felt like I have been waiting forever. I am ready to bump it up in the semifinals.&rdquo;
Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic led all qualifiers with 50.06, the fastest first-round time at a global championships. Next fastest were defending Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo (50.50) and Cuba&rsquo;s Roxana Gomez (50.76). 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6108e0c6030a679c16317ae0.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Seventeen-year-old US sprint talent Erriyon Knighton made his debut on the global stage in impressive fashion, cruising to victory in his 200m heat in 20.55.
World champion and gold medal favourite Noah Lyles won his heat comfortably in 20.18. US teammate Kenny Bednarek led all the way in his heat and won in 20.01.
Canada&rsquo;s Andre de Grasse, the 2016 Olympic 200m silver medallist who won bronze in the men&rsquo;s 100m on Sunday, finished third in his heat in 20.56.
Belgium&rsquo;s Ismael Debjani edged Timothy Cheruiyot in their 1500m heat, clocking 3:36.00 to the Kenyan favourite&rsquo;s 3:36.01. Those were the two best times of the day.
Others advancing safely included Australia&rsquo;s Oliver Hoare (3:36.09) Great Britain&rsquo;s Jake Heyward (3:36.14), USA&rsquo;s Cole Hocker (3:36.16) and Norway&rsquo;s Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:36.49).
Poland&rsquo;s Marcin Lewandoswki, bronze medallist in Doha and world indoor silver medallist in 2018, tripped and fell in his heat but was later advanced.
But Ethiopia&rsquo;s world indoor champion Samuel Tefera, coming off a lifetime best of 3:30.71 earlier this year, had only 3:37.78 and missed out on a place in the semifinals.
In men&rsquo;s triple jump qualifying, world leader Pedro Pablo Pichardo of Portugal leapt 17.71m, the best qualifying round jump in history in any competition. Turkey&rsquo;s Necati Er had the second best jump of 17.13m.
World indoor record-holder Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso, meanwhile, squeezed into the final by five centimetres with 16.83m, just enough for the 12th and last qualifying spot.
World leader Maria Andrejczyk needed just one throw in qualifying to book her spot in the javelin final with an effort of 65.24m. The USA&rsquo;s Maggie Malone had the next best throw of 63.07m, followed by world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber of Australia (62.59m).
But the winners of the past three past three Olympic titles all failed to make it to the final. Defending champion Sara Kolak failed to register a mark and two-time champion Barbora Spotakova&rsquo;s 60.52m wasn&rsquo;t good enough to go through.
Steve Wilson for World Athletics

Breathtaking. Stunning. Epic. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe the men’s 400m hurdles final on Tuesday (3) at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

One for the ages: Warholm shatters world 400m hurdles record and Mihambo wins long jump thriller

Nearly two and a half hours have passed since Karsten Warholm blasted across the finish line of the Olympic 400m hurdles final and the sporting world is still trying to grasp what it had witnessed at Tokyo's National Stadium on Tuesday (3) afternoon.
Thirty-three days ago, the Norwegian broke the world record in the event which had stood for nearly 29 years, clocking 46.70. This morning he won the most anticipated face-off of the 2020 Olympic Games by obliterating that mark with an unfathomable 45.94* performance to rip another 0.76 from his own world record.
Adequate superlatives don't yet exist to describe the magnitude of what the 25-year-old has just accomplished &ndash; world records over one lap of the track simply don't get smashed by the margin that Warholm managed to concoct this morning. For now, calling this the finest race in athletics history will have to suffice.
Indeed, all the more astounding is that Warholm had Rai Benjamin, his chief rival, for company for nearly those entire 45.94 seconds. Benjamin crossed the line in 46.17, itself an extraordinary performance that would have shattered the previous world record. Illustrating the race&rsquo;s extraordinary depth, Alison dos Santos of Brazil finished a well-beaten third in 46.72, a performance that would have broken the world record just over a month ago. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6108e095315c5c8e31410f1f.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Nearly three decades had passed before someone managed to chip 0.08 from Kevin Young's legendary mark set at the 1992 Olympics. Today's performance eclipsed that by nearly a full second, blasting the record into sub-46 territory, something utterly incomprehensible &ndash; until today.
Even Warholm looked at the scoreboard in disbelief as he powered down after crossing the line, his jaw dropping, eyes popping. The only obvious reaction was to rip open his singlet and let out a series of roars.
&ldquo;It's so crazy,&rdquo; Warholm said. &ldquo;This is by far the biggest moment of my life.&rdquo;
To the former, Benjamin concurred.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Usain Bolt&rsquo;s 9.5 was better than this,&rdquo; he said, referring to Usain Bolt&rsquo;s 9.58 100m world record set in 2009.
The pair &ndash; Benjamin in lane five, Warholm in six &ndash; set off on an aggressive pace, marking clear distance on the field by the second hurdle. Warholm chiseled together a visible advantage by the third barrier and carried a clear lead into the final bend. But Benjamin didn't panic.
Warholm led as the pair entered the final straight, but wasn't gaining ground as they approached hurdle nine. Benjamin managed to chip away at the lead and nearly caught Warholm at the final hurdle, but that surge cost him, leaving him drained as he landed, unable to respond as Warholm began to pull away.
World records can&rsquo;t be predicted but this showdown was always the best bet for one on the fast Tokyo track. Benjamin improved to 46.83 at the US trials, just four days before Warholm finally eclipsed Young&rsquo;s long-standing standard.
Their seemingly effortless semifinal performances &ndash; 47.30 by Warholm, 47.31 by Dos Santos and 47.37 by Benjamin &ndash; would have sufficed to take gold at all but one Olympics since Young set his world record in Seoul in 1992. Clearly the three were in the best shape of their lives. Historically profound shape, as it turned out.
How did Warholm reach this historical moment?
&ldquo;I train like a f***ing maniac,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I use all my time on this. Now I just have to set myself new goals because I'm not done yet.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6108e0fe030a679c16317ae3.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Neither is Benjamin, who despite his colossal achievement, couldn&rsquo;t hide his disappointment.
&ldquo;I just worked so hard all year,&rdquo; said the US champion, who finished second to Warholm at the 2019 World Championships in an earlier epic duel. &ldquo;This is what matters. I got a medal, but it just hurts to lose. Next year, I'm coming. I'm a dog. I'm going to fight. I made some mistakes that cost me but I'm going to fix them.&rdquo;
If Warholm made any mistakes, he didn&rsquo;t immediately go looking for them. There was no need. He said he was confident last night and woke up confident this morning that something special was in the air.
&ldquo;(Last night) I had this special feeling in my chest when I'm nervous," he said. "It's the feeling I had as a six-year-old on Christmas Eve. It's a feeling you don't think you'll ever have again. But I had it last night.&rdquo;
Dos Santos, just 21, was thrilled by his performance, and he too can&rsquo;t wait to see what will come next in the event&rsquo;s new era.
&ldquo;We want to run faster, we want to be better and this is amazing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If (Warholm) can break 46, I can break it, too. I want to run faster. I want to be better."
Behind them, a slew of records fell.
Kyron McMaster finished fourth in 47.08, a national record for the British Virgin Islands which landed in the No.8 spot on the world all-time list, with Abderrahman Samba of Qatar fifth in 47.12.
Yasmani Copello clocked 47.81 to equal the Turkish national record in sixth, with Rasmus Magi seventh in 48.11, a national record for Estonia.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics
*Subject to the usual ratification procedure
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">MEN'S 400m HURDLES MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #e9c968;">Karsten Warholm 🇳🇴 NOR</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #e9c968;">45.94 WR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Rai Benjamin 🇺🇸 USA</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #ced4d9;">46.17 AR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #bd895e;">Alison dos Santos 🇧🇷 BRA</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #bd895e;">46.72 AR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/results/men/400-metres-hurdles/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

It will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest races in athletics history.