"54% of people are wrong" - Michael Johnson weighs in on upcoming 100m clash between Mondo Duplantis and Karsten Warholm

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Aug 27, 2024 04:49 GMT

Pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis from Sweden is set for another clash, this time with the current world record holder for men's 400m hurdles, Karsten Warholm of Norway. A day before the Zurich Diamond League, the two Olympic medalists will face each other in a friendly 100m clash. Former American sprinter Michael Johnson recently shared his take on this.

While some are supporting Warholm, many are expecting Duplantis to beat him. According to a poll conducted by Citius Mag, 54 percent of the participants believe Duplantis would beat Warholm. However, former Olympic champion and world record holder Johnson thinks otherwise.

In a recent post on his X account, Johnson wrote:

"54% of people are wrong."

The Zurich leg of the Diamond League will be the last event in the series of Diamond League meets before the ultimate finals, which will be held in Brussels, Belgium, on September 13 and 14, 2024.

Before the Zurich Diamond League is held on September 5, Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis and Karsten Warholm will face each other in a 100m clash on September 4. While Warholm is the world record holder in men's 400m hurdles, Duplantis recently broke the world record in men's pole vault for a record 10th time.

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Michael Johnson on Mondo Duplantis' world-record spree

Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis of Sweden along with silver medalist Sam Kendricks of USA and Emmanouil Karalis of Greece at the men's pole vault medal ceremony at Paris Olympics 2024 [Image Source : Getty]

Like most other emerging champions, Michael Johnson has been supportive of Mondo Duplantis and his ambitions to create a legacy in the field of pole vault.

When Duplantis won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics for the second consecutive time, breaking his own world record of 6.24m, Johnson was one of the first big names to congratulate him. While covering the Paris Olympics for BBC Sport, he had said:

"You know when Mondo Duplantis is competing, you are always on world record watch. He essentially breaks world records when he wants. He has broken world records at the World Championships and the European Championships, but this is the Olympics. He loves the big moments and the big stages."

However, Johnson doesn't approve of Mondo Duplantis' self-critical approach to his discipline. In April 2024, when he had broken the world record and said there was nothing special about it, Michael Johnson criticized him by posting on his X account [formerly Twitter]:

"This is a problem for pole vault. WRs get attention because they're usually special. The guy breaking them doesn't make it feel special. Competition gets attention. He has no competition. The problem IS NOT HIS FAULT, but it's a problem."

Having broken the world record in the men's pole vault a record 10 times, Mondo Duplantis is now only second to Ukrainian legend Sergey Bubka, who had broken the world record a whopping 17 times from 1984 to 1994. Bubka had won the Olympic gold medal only once when he won it for USSR at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.