After the laser light show ended and the lights came up before the 400m hurdles final, Karsten Warholm gave hard slaps to his legs and his face. In an event characterized by speed, rhythm, and timing, the 23-year-old from Norway is all aggression. His pre-race scream was heard high up into the stands at Khalifa Stadium in Doha.

His coach, Leif Olav Alnes, doesn’t know where his swashbuckling style comes from, just that it’s always been there. 

“Maybe from the Vikings a thousand years back?” Olav Alnes said. “In the DNA.”

On Monday night, Warholm was one-third of the most-anticipated race of these World Championships. For the first time, Warholm, Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba, and American Rai Benjamin raced each other. The trio has spent the last two seasons scaring Kevin Young’s world record of 46.78 from 1992, though never in the same race. Together, they make up three of the four fastest all-time in the event.

Warholm, 23 and the reigning champion, began the season a tier below Samba and Benjamin. He was good in 2018, but Samba was always better, winning all six matchups. That changed this year, as he ran off an undefeated season and ran under 47.50 on five occasions before Monday. 

Warholm approaches each hurdle with contempt, questioning their temerity to stand in his path. Often times he appears out of control, like his one false step from busting through a hurdle. 

“Some people complain that he goes too fast in the beginning. I say no he doesn’t go too fast in the beginning, he goes too slow in the end,” Alnes said.  

“He’s gonna go for it every single time,” Benjamin said. At the Zurich Diamond League, Warholm threw his hands across the finish line, not in celebration but as a final burst of energy at the finish. 

If Warholm shows disdain for the barriers, Benjamin approaches them with indifference. 

He’s smooth, efficient, and measured. The fastest and youngest of the three without hurdles, Benjamin could make World Championship finals in the 200m and 400m if he didn’t have the chance to be the best all-time in the 400m hurdles. 

His 47.02 at the 2018 NCAA Championships vaulted him into the world record discussion. This season, his first as a pro, has gone as expected. Benjamin was cleared to compete for the United States in October (previously he’d represented Antigua and Barbuda though he was born and raised in the United States) and dominated American competition ever since. His only losses on the year came to Samba in May and to Warholm at the end of August in Zurich. 

There, the two met for the first time. As expected, Warholm led into the homestretch before Benjamin began to claw back. He drew even with Warholm before the final hurdle but had to switch his lead leg and lost time. 

“That’s what cost me the race,” Benjamin said. 

Warholm ran 46.92, the second-best time in history. Benjamin’s 46.98 was a lifetime best and tied him with Samba for the third-fastest in history. 

Samba’s 2018 was fortuitous for the host nation, perfectly timed to give Qatar a face for these championships. 

At 24 years old, his rise to the top has been dramatic. He went from being a mediocre 400m runner to a world finalist to possibly the fastest ever in the span of three years. An undefeated season last year kick-started the event. Its high point came when he ran 46.98, a time that moved him within two-tenths of the world record.  

“He’s a closer,” Benjamin said of Samba. “Very meticulous.”

But this year, he hit a snag. A hamstring injury kept him out for most of the Diamond League season. He won the Shanghai Diamond League in 47.27 and then didn’t run another hurdle race until the first round in Doha. His results through the rounds were front-page news in Qatar. After finishing behind Benjamin in the semifinals on Saturday, Samba sped by as reporters shouted his name. He was moving so quickly through the labyrinth of the media zone that he tripped coming around a turn.  

Earlier in the summer, Benjamin said the trio didn’t need each other to go fast. That theory was born out by the results. All have run quick times while winning by huge margins. But if they did ever line up together? Warholm and Benjamin’s race in Zurich hinted at the result.

On Monday, we got to see it. Warholm, unaware of the laser show that introduced the event, was lined up in lane four. Benjamin was three lanes over in lane 7, while Samba was on the outside, a by-product of his semifinal loss. 

Again, Warholm started fast. On the backstretch, he had a slight lead on Benjamin with Samba lagging behind. Entering the straightaway, it looked like a replay of Zurich. Benjamin began to close, but Warholm responded and extended his lead. Benjamin hit the final hurdle and lost his balance for a moment, removing any chance of gold. 

Warholm threw his arms across the line in 47.42. Benjamin ran 47.66. 

“In my head, I was pushed all the way through, but when I looked at the photo it was a very solid win,” Warholm said. 

Samba made a late run to move from fifth to third, to the delight of the crowd. Bronze, he said, was like gold after his injury issues. 

After the race, Benjamin revealed that he too wasn’t in perfect health. Approximately three weeks ago he hit a hurdle in practice and fell to the track. The result was a bone bruise on his left heel. He had to use crutches for several days. When he arrived in Doha, his coach Quincy Watts said he looked “terrible” in practice. They considered scratching the race. Ultimately, he decided to wear a protective sleeve. For the final, he got rid of it. 

“It’s a world championship final, nobody cares that my heel hurts,” Benjamin said. “I couldn’t use that as an excuse.”

Predictably, the conversation turned to times. Specifically, how was this race won in over 47 seconds? 

“I could have been running 50.5 and I would be happy if I win. It was all about the gold medal and I didn’t care about the time,” Warholm said. 

“For now, I am world champion and that is all that matters tonight.” 

Next year, when the track schedule returns to normalcy and the group is rested and recovered, the world record seems like an inevitably. 

“We just barely put our toes in the water,” Benjamin said. 

Long after the race, when the media around Samba died down to a manageable level, a reporter asked him when the world record would be broken. 

“Soon,” Samba replied. 

“How soon?” the reporter responded. 

“Soon.”