PHOTO: Bildbyrån
He is one of the athletics WC’s biggest stars.
But now clear criticism is directed at Karsten Warholm – from Sweden.
“It would have been one of the biggest scandals in history,” writes DN columnist Johan Esk.
The same evening as Daniel Ståhl wrote Swedish sports history in the most powerful way by winning World Cup gold with his very last throw, a Norwegian ended up in a really bad weather. Then the Norwegian superstar Karsten Warholm was accused of cheating in the semifinals of the 400-meter hurdles.
Swedish criticism
The Norwegian is known for pushing the allowed in the curves when he has to take the hurdles and this time it angered the Italian camp. Italy filed a protest and had it passed had Alessandro Sibilio went to the final instead of Warholm.
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Which had become a huge scandal for the gold-chasing Norwegian but the protest was rejected because it came in too late. Now comes Swedish criticism of the decision that saved Norway’s big WC star, who gets to compete in the final on Wednesday evening.
“But should Karsten Warholm even be allowed to start? An Italian protest was neatly put away,” writes the columnist Johan Esk in Dagens Nyheter.
“I don’t even need to put on a blue-yellow foil hat to feel that it’s something familiar. Too late for protest… Hm… wasn’t that how it sounded around Simon Pettersson after the discus qualifiers? Before the jury went in anyway and checked the pictures”.
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Warholm favorite
Swedish Simon Pettersson was washed but Warholm is allowed to continue competing despite several claiming that one of his legs was outside the fence in an illegal way during the actual passage.
“You don’t have to be a board member of the National Confederation of Conspiracy Theorists to think that another jury decision regarding one of the WC’s biggest names had been one of the biggest scandals in the history of athletics. On the other hand, the whole Warholm story shows the sickness of athletics’ different assessment levels,” writes Esk further in his column.
“For a sprinter, a reaction that comes a few hundredths of a second too early can mean disqualification. For a hurdler, it’s a matter of interpreting films and pictures that aren’t clear. A discus thrower can be washed if someone discovers that the foot is set a few centimeters wrong. Another thrower may miss out on the gold if the official on the field sets the meter at impact by a centimeter wrong.
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Karsten Warholm has subscribed to first places for 400 meter hurdles and won double WC gold, double EC gold and Olympic gold in recent years. Now he is once again the favorite to win the third WC gold.
“He looks like a mother-in-law’s dream, runs fantastically and is so nice that you wonder if there is something wrong with the man. Yes. Last year he had injury problems. He came to the WC but did not have time to get any good form and lost the WC title there. Warholm also has the best time of the year, but this year he has not faced his two most difficult opponents. Alison dos Santos, Brazil, and USA’s Rai Benjamin. Last year they came first and second in the World Cup,” writes the DN columnist.
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