Norway’s Karsten Warholm began his 2025 season in formidable form by smashing his world best in the 300m hurdles in the Xiamen Diamond League on Saturday (26) evening.
The three-time world and European 400m hurdles champion blasted to victory in 33.05, shaving 0.21 off his previous world best which he set in 2021 in the weeks leading up to the Olympic Games in Tokyo where he set the existing world 400m hurdles record of 45.94.
"It is the level I am pushing for and that is where I want to be so this shows that the speed is there and the speed over the hurdles is there.
"This is a very good test for speed and hurdles so it is a very good first race for me. I am looking to win as much as I can, and improve my level as much as possible," said Warholm.
World best! 🔥
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) April 26, 2025
3️⃣3️⃣.0️⃣5️⃣ for Karsten Warholm 🇳🇴 in the 300m hurdles in the Xiamen Diamond League! 🥵
And he takes 0.21 off his previous mark set in 2021 when he ran a world 400m hurdles record of 45.94. 👀 #DiamondLeague pic.twitter.com/nVILj7KFPo
This was Warholm’s first race since going head-to-head with Armand Duplantis in the 100m in the Zurich Diamond League in early September.
The Norwegian opted to miss the entirety of the indoor season in order to focus on the outdoor campaign which culminates at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo where Warholm is aiming for his fourth world title.
Duplantis also opened his outdoor season in victorious form in the pole vault, although the Swede couldn’t quite find the form which saw him set a world record of 6.24m in last year’s meeting.
Duplantis, who was crowned Laureus Sportsman of the Year in Madrid only five days ago, cleared 5.92m on his first attempt before three unsuccessful attempts at 6.01m.
"We had a little bit of trouble with the wind. Hopefully we can be a little more sharp in the second leg on the China trip [in Shanghai] but overall it was good fun and to be able to come away with a win was good," he said.
Best ever outdoor mark for in-form Schilder
Jessica Schilder carried her fine indoor form onto the outdoor stage with a comprehensive victory in the shot put, surpassing the 20 metre-line for the sixth time in 2025.
The European indoor and outdoor champion opened her series with an emphatic 20.47m, her best ever mark outdoors and the second longest throw of her career behind her winning mark of 20.69m from the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn.
Schilder took the scalp of two-time world outdoor champion Chase Jackson who responded to Schilder’s opener with 20.31m in the second round with legendary Chinese thrower Gong Lijiao third with 19.62m.
After a defeat at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing where she had to settle for bronze, fellow European indoor and outdoor champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh from Ukraine returned to winning ways in the high jump.
The Ukrainian, who was named European Athlete of the Year last year after breaking the long-standing world record with 2.10m, cleared 1.97m to defeat the Australian duo of Eleanor Patterson and Nicola Olyslagers before a close third attempt at 2.03m which would have improved her world lead of 2.01m and her meeting record of 2.02m.