Pole vaulter Armand Duplantis beats Karsten Warholm in 100m exhibition

Armand Duplantis beat close friend Karsten Warholm in an exhibition 100 metre sprint at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich.

Double Olympic pole vault champion Duplantis never relinquished the lead after bursting out of the blocks and edged world record 400m hurdler Warholm in a time of 10.37 seconds.

Norwegian Warholm, a silver medallist in Paris, ran a personal best 10.47 in the race, dubbed '100m To Settle It All' by joint organisers Weltklasse Zurich, Puma and Red Bull.

Duplantis said afterwards: "I’m pretty fired-up. How can I not be, I mean come on! Stop playing!"

Warholm added: "I’ve got to give it to Mondo. He beat me today fair and square. It was a great race. He was out of the blocks fast. Congrats man!"

Swede Duplantis showcased his natural speed in Wednesday night’s challenge before Thursday’s penultimate Wanda Diamond League meeting at the same venue.

The two close friends have been arguing over who is the faster over 100m since Warholm commented on how fast Duplantis was on the pole vault runway during training over a year ago.

Duplantis then challenged Warholm to a race and the anticipation among fans had been growing momentum on social media.

Warholm grimaced when handed a Sweden running vest by Duplantis and reminded of the loser’s forfeit, which is to wear it in his 400m hurdles race at the Diamond League meeting tomorrow.