{"id":2272,"date":"2020-09-16T19:56:13","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T19:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/high-flying-stars-warholm-and-duplantis-form-a-scandi-support-group\/"},"modified":"2020-09-16T19:56:13","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T19:56:13","slug":"high-flying-stars-warholm-and-duplantis-form-a-scandi-support-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/high-flying-stars-warholm-and-duplantis-form-a-scandi-support-group\/","title":{"rendered":"High-flying stars Warholm and Duplantis form a Scandi support group"},"content":{"rendered":"
Norwegian Warholm, who stands just 0.09 short of Kevin Young\u2019s 28-year-old world record in the 400m hurdles, revealed at the press conference before tomorrow\u2019s Wanda Diamond League meeting in Rome, that he and Sweden\u2019s Duplantis had agreed that the best approach for now was not to focus on the world record.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe thing is, we\u2019re in a very interesting situation,\u2019\u2019 Warholm said. \u201cI spoke to Mondo in Berlin (at the ISTAF meeting last Sunday) and we are in a situation where we are going really fast and jumping very high and people are disappointed. I am three-tenths from the world record, he jumps a few centimetres off the world record and people are asking if we are disappointed.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe are in a situation where we can talk about these records and it\u2019s great, but for us, at least for me, I have to keep my focus on doing the best I can and getting my potential out. That\u2019s what it\u2019s all about. I am considering less and less about the record because I know that if I chase it, I probably won\u2019t get it.\u201d<\/div>\n
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World pole vault record-holder Duplantis, who has regularly attempted a world outdoor best of 6.15m this season, agreed that the constant speculation around world records was not helping.<\/div>\n
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\u201cEverybody expects these things out of us and pressure is put on us at each meet, but I have been competing against a lot of great guys, the best in the world at pretty much all the meets that I\u2019ve been at, so going into each one I try not to underestimate them.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe first goal, and pretty much the only goal, is to go out there and try to win. Of course, I\u2019m going to try to do the best that I can do and I\u2019m going to try to jump as high as I can jump. The shape is coming along nicely and those high bars are getting easier and easier so it should be good tomorrow.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Lavillienie an inspiration, says Duplantis<\/div>\n
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Among the athletes waiting for Duplantis tomorrow is his predecessor as world record-holder Renaud Lavillenie and the 20-year-old Swede paid tribute to the veteran Frenchman when he was asked to compare himself to the two previous world-record-holders, Lavillenie and Sergey Bubka.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe are just three very different athletes in general,\u2019\u2019 Duplantis said.<\/div>\n
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\u201cBubka was Bubka. He was ahead of his time and he revolutionised the sport. He was so fast and so strong that it seemed like that the only way to jump high was to be this freak athlete like he was, and then Renaud came along and proved a lot of people wrong just being a small Frenchman.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt was quite inspiring for me when I was 14 years old and he broke the record. I don\u2019t know if you have seen my father but I didn\u2019t know how tall I was going to be. I didn\u2019t know if I was going to be that tall or fast and to see something like that from Renaud, it gives you hope that you can jump high even if you are not that tall, you are not the fastest, not the strongest. It\u2019s just a really technical event like that.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s a cool event because there\u2019s so many ways to skin a cat. I try to do it my own way, the way that suits me, and hopefully I can give some inspiration to some other young kids like those two did for me.\u201d<\/div>\n
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On the origins of Warholm\u2019s pre-race roar<\/div>\n
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Warholm\u2019s idiosyncratic mental preparation before races has also become a topic of conversation.<\/div>\n
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Before each race he lets out a Viking roar after slapping himself in the face and around the body.<\/div>\n
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He revealed it was a habit that he developed in training to psych himself up when there is no crowd to excite him, and it has served him well at pandemic-affected meetings this season, where crowds have been small or absent due to local health regulations.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s just to get my adrenalin going, to get in the right mood,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI am getting a little bit embarrassed, looking at it afterwards, that\u2019s why I never watch my races. But I do it because it works.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Thompson-Herah fit and healthy, Muir targeting world lead<\/div>\n
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The Rome meeting will see the season debut for Olympic 100m and 200m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah in international company after she showed her best form since the Rio Olympics in domestic competition in Jamaica.<\/div>\n
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Thompson-Herah said visa issues had delayed her arrival in Europe but she was eager to see what she could do in the 100m tomorrow after overcoming a run of injuries in recent years.<\/div>\n
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\u201cFor the last three years I haven\u2019t been in my best shape because of injuries but so far this year has been really good so I\u2019m really looking forward to tomorrow,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/div>\n
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European 1500m champion Laura Muir said Norway\u2019s Hedda Hynne had given her a target to aim for in the 800m in Rome after the Norwegian set a world-leading time of 1:58.10 in Bellinzona, Switzerland last night.<\/div>\n
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\u201cLast year I did a very fast time and I love this stadium,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/div>\n
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Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics and for Diamond League<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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