Karsten Warholm has never needed other people to run fast. Over the past two years, he’s racked up big wins against overwhelmed fields. When he isn’t racing Abderrahman Samba or Rai Benjamin, Warholm puts the field to bed in the first half of the race. Lesser athletes ease up, but Warholm slams on the gas and barrels across the line. 

Thursday’s circumstances were a bit different at the Impossible Games in Oslo, track’s first international competition since the COVID-19 outbreak. Warholm raced by himself in a mostly empty stadium with cardboard cutouts in the first few rows and dancers with puppets. Some fans watched from apartment balconies outside the stadium and atop cherry pickers. 

Hurdles were placed on the lanes to his left and right. Other than that, it was just him. Nothing about it was normal, other than Warholm’s performance. He turned in the fastest time in history in the rarely run 300m hurdles, crossing the line in 33.78,  a reminder that there are still constants in the sporting world. 

Full race video of Karsten Warholm's fastest 300m hurdles in history at the Impossible Games in Oslo. pic.twitter.com/cdoO1SOKHA

— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) June 11, 2020

Norway’s other star, Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke the European record in the 2000m with a time of 4:50.01. The race was part of a virtual head-to-head race with Ingebrigtsen running with his two brothers and two others in Oslo and a Kenyan team featuring Timothy Cheruiyot competing remotely from Nairobi. 

The team competition was never a fair fight. While the Norwegians ran in the pleasant temperatures in Bislett Stadium accompanied by pace lights along the track, the Kenyan contingent was battling wind, rain and high altitude. They also might have been on the second running of the race, according to Asbel Kiprop who tweeted before the race that Kenyans race actually occurred the day before.  

Tell the truth to the Audience; that it has been ran already; and Kenyan team ran a 5:04 on Tuesday that they forgot to ring the bell & they had to repeat it yesterday and ran a 5:03.
Let's make athletics great again.

— Asbel Kiprop OGW (@KipropAsbel) June 11, 2020

Henrik Ingebrigtsen crossed the line second, with a time of 4:53.72. Middle brother Filip, who less than an hour before broke the Norwegian record in the 1000m (2:16.48), was third in 4:56.91. 

Timothy Cheruiyot was the first finisher in Kenya in 5:03.95. Edwin Melly and Elijah Managoi ran 5:13 and 5:18, respectively. 

The men’s pole vault competition between Renaud Lavillenie and Mondo Duplantis was a literal battle between past and present. Lavillenie was not in the stadium with Duplantis. In fact, he had completed his vaulting two days before at his home in France, making Thursday’s competition one between tape-delayed Renaud vs. live Mondo. 

Duplantis didn’t know Lavillenie’s results which added an extra twist to an already strange set-up. If the producers of The Voice took over track and field for the day, this is probably what they would have sketched out.

As for the competition itself, Lavillenie had third attempt clearances at 5.36m, 5.51m and 5.71m to keep the competition interesting. His successful 5.81m vault was especially impressive considering the short runway and that there was an unkempt tree blocking a good portion of the bar. Duplantis also cleared 5.81m on his first attempt and then made 5.86 on his last attempt to win the competition. 

In the men’s discus, Sweden’s Daniel Stahl threw 65.92m to better his countryman Simon Pettersson. 

The women’s 600m featured a three-turn stagger and a big comeback. Switzerland’s Selina Buchel went out in 25.90 for the first 200m and began to fade soon after. Hedda Hynne of Norway passed her on the final curve and won, 1:29.06 to 1:30.10.

Norway’s Line Kloster won the 200m hurdles in 26.11 and Sara Slott Petersen of Denmark won the 300m hurdles in 39.42, just edging Amalie Iuel.