Karsten Warholm Demolishes 400 Meter Hurdles World Record, Rips His Own Shirt In Celebration

Karsten Warholm ran 45.95 to destroy his own world record and win gold in the men's 400 meter hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics.

Sign up for our free daily Olympics newsletter: Very Olympic Today. You'll catch up on the top stories, smaller events, things you may have missed while you were sleeping and links to the best writing from SI’s reporters on the ground in Tokyo.

In front of a mostly empty stadium on a hot afternoon in Tokyo, Norway's Karsten Warholm broke the men's 400-meter hurdle world record with a 45.95-second run to take .75 seconds off his own previous world record. 

The race easily goes down as one of the best performances in history with six national records set.

U.S. Olympic Trials champion Rai Benjamin also got under Warholm's previous mark of 46.70 to take silver in 46.17. Benjamin was widely considered the top contender to possibly upset Warholm after running 46.83 at the trials and taking silver at the 2019 world championships in Doha.

Benjamin and Warholm did not race each other all year until the Olympic semifinal, where they just coasted and saved their best for the final round.

Warholm has not lost a 400m hurdles race since September 8, 2018 and it wouldn't happen on Tuesday morning in Tokyo.

"The Olympic gold medal is what everybody talks about," Waholm said. "I knew this race was going to be the toughest of my life, but I was ready."

"I dream about it like a maniac," Warholm added. "I sleep all night on it. I spend all my time thinking about this, so just getting this last medal into my collection – it’s complete."

Upon crossing the finish line, Warholm tore apart the top of his jersey and put his arms to his head in shock – as he did when he won his firts world championship title in 2017 which drew comparisons to "The Scream" painting by his fellow Norweigan Edvard Munch.

One of the greatest races in history. pic.twitter.com/y2CLnjlzGn

— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) August 3, 2021

Benjamin challenged Warholm until the end of the race but appeared visibly disappointed that a world record was not enough to stop Warholm. 

“I always give myself 24 hours to process things," Benjamin said. "Right now I am just full of emotion. I have worked so hard. This is what matters. I got a medal but it just hurts to lose."

Brazil's Alison Dos Santos finished third in 46.72 for silver, which dipped under Kevin Young's previous world record of 46.78 that stood from 1992 until Warholm beat it in Oslo on July 1.

The women's 400-meter hurdles final will be held on Aug. 6 and features a showdown between reigning Olympic champion and former world record holder Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney McLaughlin, who broke the world record with her 51.90 victory at the U.S. Olympic Trials.