TOKYO — Karsten Warholm could not feel his legs as he closed on the finish line. But in this instance, as he chased his first Olympic title, Warholm pushed himself somewhere else entirely, where the pain was replaced by a sort of absence. Warholm, a 25-year-old Norwegian who grew up training to become a decathlete, obliterated his own world record in the men’s 400-meter hurdles, winning in 45.94 seconds at the Tokyo Games on Tuesday. Rai Benjamin of the United States was second in 46.17 seconds, a time that also eclipsed Warholm’s previous world record but was not good enough for gold. Not so long ago, the world record had stood for nearly 29 years.

Source: New York Times August 03, 2021 12:00 UTC