Karsten Warholm facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Karsten Warholm
	Warholm at the 2017 Bislett Games
Personal information
Nationality	Norwegian
Born	28 February 1996 (age 25); Ulsteinvik, Møre og Romsdal, Norway
Height	1.87 m
Weight	80 kg
Sport
Country	Norway
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Hurdling, sprinting
Club	Dimna IL
Coached by	Leif Olav Alnes
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	400 m hurdles: 45.94 WR and OR (2021); 400 m: 45.05 i ER (2019); 400 m: 44.87 NR (2017);
Men's athletics
Competitor for Norway
Olympic Games
	World Championships
	European Championships
	European Indoor Championships
	European U23 Championships
	European Junior Championships
	World Youth Championships
	Representing Europe
	Continental Cup

Karsten Warholm (born 28 February 1996) is a Norwegian athlete and Olympic champion who competes in the sprints and hurdles. In July 2021, he broke the 29-year-old world record in 400 metres hurdles. The following month at the 2020 Summer Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles with a time of 45.94 seconds, breaking his own world record by over three-quarters of a second. The race has been described by many as one of the greatest in Olympic history due to the records set and the high class field of competitors. Warholm has also won gold in the event at the World Championships in 2017 and 2019, as well as the 2018 European Championships.

Career

Early career

In March 2013, Warholm won eight gold medals in the Norwegian Youth Indoors Championships. In June at the 2013 Bislett Games, he competed in the 200 m. He finished seventh in his heat with a time of 22.25 s. Usain Bolt won a different heat at the same meet with a time of 19.79 s. At the 2013 World Youth Championships in July, he won gold in the boys' octathlon with 6451 points, a personal best.

In 2014, Warholm competed in the decathlon as well as in specialised events. At the time, his possible future specialization were the long jump, hurdling and 400 metres. His weakest performances in the decathlon were in the throwing events.

In June 2014, Warholm set a Norwegian junior record in the 400 m with a time of 46.31 s.

In July 2015, he won silver in the 400 m at the 2015 European Junior Championships with a time of 46.50 s, 0.02 s behind Benjamin Lobo Vedel. He also won silver in the decathlon with 7764 points, a personal best.

In July 2016, while participating in the semi-final of the 400 m hurdles at the 2016 European Championships, he broke the Norwegian national record with a time of 48.84 s. He then finished sixth in the final, with a time of 49.82 s. In August, he made it to the semi-finals in the 400 m hurdles at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

World champion title

In July 2017, he won gold in the 400 m hurdles at the 2017 European U23 Championships, setting a championship record of 48.37 s. He also won silver in the 400 m with a time of 45.75 s. In August, he won gold in the 400 m hurdles at the 2017 World Championships with a time of 48.35 s. Two weeks after his success at the World Championships, he improved upon his own Norwegian record in the 400 m hurdles with a time of 48.22 s at the 2017 Weltklasse Zürich.

At the 2018 European Championships Warholm won the gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles event with a time of 47.64 s, setting his new personal best and the new European U23 record.

In March, Warholm won gold in the 400 m at the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships. His time of 45.05 s equalled the European record set by Thomas Schönlebe in 1988. In June, at the Oslo Bislett Games he broke the European men's 400 m hurdles record with a time of 47.33. At the Müller Anniversary Games in July, Warholm improved on his 400 m hurdles time, taking it to 47.12 s. At Weltklasse Zurich in August, Warholm set a new European record in the 400 m hurdles, with a time of 46.92, making him the third person to run under 47 seconds for the distance. He was chased to the finish line by Rai Benjamin, who became the fourth person to break 47 seconds, with a time of 46.98. At the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, he won the 400 m hurdles in a time of 47.42 seconds, retaining his championship from 2017.

On 11 June, Warholm competed in the Impossible Games in Bislett Stadion (Oslo, Norway). He ran the 300 metres hurdles with a world best time of 33.78, besting Chris Rawlinson's time of 34.48 set in 2002. He also ran 400 meters indoors with a time of 45.97. On 23 August in Stockholm, Warholm ran a personal best of 46.87, narrowly missing Kevin Young's world record of 46.78. With this performance, Warholm became the first person to break 47 seconds twice.

World records and Olympic title

On 1 July 2021, in his first race of the season at Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Warholm broke Kevin Young's 1992 world record with a time of 46.70 s.

Warholm later broke his own record by 0.76 seconds in the 2020 Olympic Games, winning gold in a new world record of 45.94 s, an 1.6% decrease from the previous record. Warholm's time, the first sub-46 s time for the 400m hurdles, was faster than 18 runners in the men's 400m without hurdles.

The silver medalist in the final, Rai Benjamin, also beat the old record, with a time of 46.17 s. Warholm broke the old record without using the new "super spikes" worn by many of his competitors. One biomechanics expert suggests the spikes could increase performance by 1–1.5%.

Career statistics

Information from World Athletics profile.

Personal bests

Surface	Event	Time	Date	Location	Notes
Outdoor	100 m	10.52	28 May 2016	Lillestrøm, Norway
	200 m	21.09 21.00 w	4 June 2016 12 June 2015	Florø, Norway Bærum, Norway	Wind-assisted
	300 m	32.69	22 August 2018	Bergen, Norway	NB
	400 m	44.87	10 June 2017	Florø, Norway	NR
	300 m hurdles	33.26	4 June 2021	Oslo, Norway	WR
	400 m hurdles	45.94	3 August 2021	Tokyo, Japan	WR
Indoor	60 m	6.75	28 January 2017	Florø, Norway
	100 m	10.49	28 January 2017	Florø, Norway
	200 m	20.91	5 February 2017	Ulsteinvik, Norway
	400 m	45.05	2 March 2019	Glasgow, Scotland	ER

International championship results

Year	Championship	Position	Event	Time/ Points	Venue	Notes
Representing Norway and Europe (Continental Cup only)
2013	World Youth Championships	1st	Octathlon	6451	Donetsk, Ukraine
2013	World Youth Championships	15th	Medley relay	1:56.92	Donetsk, Ukraine
2014	World Junior Championships	10th	Decathlon	7551	Eugene, Oregon, U.S.
	World Junior Championships	11th	4×100 m relay	40.62	Eugene, Oregon, U.S.
	European Championships	31st	400 m	46.73	Zürich, Switzerland
2015	European Team Championships	11th	4×400 m relay	3:10.65	Cheboksary, Russia
	European Junior Championships	2nd	400 m	46.50	Eskilstuna, Sweden
	European Junior Championships	2nd	Decathlon	7764	Eskilstuna, Sweden
2016	European Championships	6th	400 m hurdles	49.82	Amsterdam, Netherlands
	European Championships	16th	4×400 m relay	3:10.76	Amsterdam, Netherlands
	Olympic Games	10th	400 m hurdles	48.81	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2017	European U23 Championships	2nd	400 m	45.75	Bydgoszcz, Poland
	European U23 Championships	1st	400 m hurdles	48.37	Bydgoszcz, Poland
	World Championships	1st	400 m hurdles	48.35	London, England
2018	European Championships	1st	400 m hurdles	47.64	Berlin, Germany
	European Championships	8th	400 m	46.68	Berlin, Germany
	Continental Cup	3rd	400 m hurdles	48.56	Ostrava, Czech Republic
2019	European Indoor Championships	1st	400 m	45.05	Glasgow, Scotland
2019	World Championships	1st	400 m hurdles	47.42	Doha, Qatar
2021	Olympic Games	1st	400 m hurdles	45.94	Tokyo, Japan	WR

Circuit wins

Diamond League (400 m hurdles; Other events specified in parenthesis)
- Overall winner: 2019
- Oslo: 2017, 2019, 2021
- Stockholm: 2017, 2019, 2020 (400 m & 400 m hurdles)
- London: 2018, 2019
- Paris: 2019
- Zürich: 2019
- Monaco: 2020
- Rome: 2020

Personal life

Warholm was born in the town of Ulsteinvik on Norway's western coast.

Warholm is in a relationship with girlfriend Oda Djupvik. He enjoys fishing, cars, and building Lego.