Ahead of the Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships which is part of the inaugural multi-sport European Championships with Glasgow from 2-12 August, we travelled to Oslo to catch up with Norway’s reigning world 400m hurdles champion Karsten Warholm.
Warholm, 22, will be one of the prospective stars of the European Championships. In just his second year in the 400m hurdles, the ex-decathlete won the European U23 title in Bydgoszcz before coming to worldwide prominence with victory at the IAAF World Championships in London.
His achievements were duly recognised at continental and global level. He was named male Rising Star of 2017 at the Golden Tracks award ceremony in Vilnius, Lithuania in October before winning the Rising Star award at the IAAF Athletics Awards.
Warholm has had to play second fiddle to Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba on the IAAF Diamond League circuit so far in 2018 but things are looking good for the world champion ahead of the European Championships in Berlin. He has already improved his Norwegian record from 48.22 down to 47.81 this year - also a European U23 record - and he holds the three fastest times in Europe this year.
In our exclusive and in-depth interview, Warholm talks everything from his formative years in the sport, his relationship with his coach and what it was like to win the gold medal at the World Championships in London last August.
More information on the 2018 European Championships:
- The Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships will be part of the first multi-sport European Championships along with co-hosts Glasgow.
- It will be a must-watch, must-attend experience that elevates the status of European Champions, uniting existing European Championships to celebrate the highest honour in European sport and celebrating the defining moments that create Champions.
- It is the continent’s ultimate multi-sport event, an 11-day celebration of European sport staged every four years.
- Seven of Europe’s leading sports (athletics, aquatics, rowing, golf, cycling, gymnastics, triathlon) will be brought together for the first edition.
- The European Athletics Championships in Berlin will be staged 7-12 August. The six other sports will be staged in Glasgow through 2-12 August.
- 4500 athletes and 52 nations will compete across the seven sports.
- Potential TV audience of over one billion with millions more across multiple digital platforms.
- Over half a million spectators expected.