"I am scared, I don't wanna choose" - World Record holder Grant Holloway on much-anticipated 100m race between Mondo Duplantis and Karsten Warholm

One of the most anticipated showdowns between Mondo Duplantis and Karsten Warholm in a friendly 100m dash is all set to take place on September 4 at the Letzigrund Stadium. The American hurdler Grant Holloway opened up about choosing sides in this competition.

Duplantis delivered victorious performances in 2024, becoming the world-record holder of the pole vault event for the tenth time. He stood atop the podium and set a world record for the ninth time during the Paris Olympics by soaring to the height of 6.25m. He recently set his tenth world record at the Silesia Diamond League by clearing 6.26m in the event.

Now, a few days after his Paris Olympics exploits, the Swedish athlete is poised to compete in a friendly 100m race with the 400m hurdles world record holder Warholm. With just a few days left for this race to be executed, multiple athletes were asked to choose their sides in this showdown, and one of them was the 110m hurdler Grant Holloway.

Not wanting to choose, the athlete said:

"I dont want to choose; I like both of them. I am not choosing. I am scared, I don't wanna choose."

Grant Holloway on Duplantis and Warholm clash

Other athletes like Wanye Pinnock and Vernon Norwood were also a part of this question, and they backed Duplantis to win.

Mondo Duplantis opened up about his showdown with Karsten Warholm

Mondo Duplantis opened up on competing against Karsten Warholm in the 100m race at the Zurich Diamond League in a press conference post his world record performance at the Silesia Diamond League. He revealed that this competition with the Norwegian athlete had helped him in staying motivated and kept him "hungry" for the last part of the season.

The pole vaulter admitted this race to be something "really nice".

"I mean, I think that honestly, the 100m race against Karsten has helped me these past couple of weeks to keep the motivation high and keep myself in good shape and keep me hungry for this last part of the season because I think it's going to be such a fun thing and something really nice, to push ourselves to do something new and kind of fresh. So, I think there's a big part of that is... doing that race is what's keeping me going forward," Mondo Duplantis said.

The 24-year-old has broken the pole vault world record three times in 2024. His first world record of 2024 was at the Xiamen Diamond League on April 20, where he soared to the height of 6.24m. He continued his quest of surpassing his world record at the Paris Olympics, where he cleared 6.25m and it continued at the Silesia Diamond League as well, where he posted 6.26m.

Mondo Duplantis' very first world record was in 2020 at Torun, Polan, where he cleared the height of 6.17m, surpassing Reanud Lavillenie's 6.16m mark.