Impressed by the 100m duel between Mondo Duplantis and Karsten Warholm that passed off final week in Zurich, 400m hurdles world champion Femke Bol of the Netherlands challenged British 800m Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson to a race through the Diamond League Closing press convention on Thursday. The odd 600-metre distance falls proper between every of their main disciplines–and followers are already buzzing over who will come out dominant ought to the pair comply with by way of with the match-up.
“I’d really like to run in opposition to Keely Hodgkinson in a 600m,” Bol revealed. “We’re good mates, nevertheless it’s a bit far, so I’ve to suppose it by way of rather well.”
The reigning Olympic 800m champion indicated on Instagram that she has no objections to Bol’s proposal. The timeline for when the race would happen is but to be decided, because the 2024 monitor season is coming to a detailed in Brussels.
The pattern of difficult fellow elite monitor and discipline athletes to off-distance rivals was initiated by Duplantis, the Swedish-American Olympic and world champion within the pole vault, who challenged Warholm, the Norwegian 400m hurdles world champion to a 100m race. An enormous debate arose discussing which race distance favoured extra; Duplantis has the 50m dash velocity to fly down the pole-vault runway, whereas Warholm possesses the velocity endurance and expertise with beginning blocks. Their race passed off forward of the Zurich Diamond League, the place Duplantis gained in 10.37 seconds.
Bol and Hodgkinson’s battle has already triggered a stir within the monitor world. Bol’s strengths lie within the 400m distance (each over hurdles and never), however the Dutch athlete additionally holds the 500m world file of 1:05.63, set in 2023. Nonetheless, she considers the 600m distance “far”. In the meantime, Hodgkinson has common expertise racing distances starting from 400m to 800m, and holds the indoor 600m world file of 1:23.41, additionally set in 2023. Her 400m private finest is 51.61–over two seconds slower than Bol’s, which stands at 49.17.
For those who thought the Duplantis versus Warholm winner was laborious to foretell, this may very well be an excellent nearer battle. In the event that they find yourself dealing with off, it gained’t be a race to overlook.