Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah (30) is ready for Karsten Warholm's event in Ulsteinvik on Thursday 2 February. The sprint star can look back on a total of five Olympic golds in the 100 metres, 200 meters and relay. Now she has decided to run 60 meters in KWI.
Thus, there will be two Olympic champions during this year's edition of Karsten Warholm®® Invitational (KWI). The athletics festival is being organized for the third time, after two years of cancellations due to covid.
- It is great to be visited by Elaine Thompson-Herah at the convention. She will be a great crowd attraction in Ulsteinhallen. It will be sprinting at the highest world level, promises Karsten Warholm.
He himself will run 400 meters on his home track. He begins to get most things in place for his own convention. Manager and mother Kristine Haddal is project manager for the convention. Ståle Jan Frøynes is the participant manager for KWI.
The Jamaican sprinter won both the 100 and 200 meters at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. She followed that up with gold at the same distances at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, plus the 4 x 100 relay. In the same Olympics, Warholm won the 400 meter hurdles with a world record.
Thompson-Herah has a huge track record from the Olympics, WC and Diamond League. She has done 60 meters in 6.98 (2017, indoors), while she has 10.54 (2022) in 100 meters and 21.53 in 200 meters (2021).
- It will be nice to see her run in Ulsteinvik. Here, the audience in Ulsteinhallen and TV viewers at NRK have a lot to look forward to, says Warholm.
There will be international top level in several exercises on 2 February. The Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh (21) - who has a personal record of 2.06 indoors - is in place. Last winter she became indoor world champion. She has two WC silver medals for seniors outdoors (Doha and Eugene) as well as bronze from the Olympics in Tokyo.
Among others, Bob Bertemes (29) from Luxemburg is participating in the shot put. He has a personal best of 22.22. Norwegian Marcus Thomsen, with a press of 21.09, will test himself against Bertemes and others in Ulsteinvik.
- There is no shortage of top world-class athletes. KWI has become an attractive indoor event for many international tops. We really appreciate that, says Ståle Jan Frøynes.
Warholm himself is currently at a training camp in Tenerife. The first event indoors will be his own event.
- Things seem to be going according to our plans and the training in the heat is going very well. I am looking forward to running 400 meters in Ulsteinvik. It is always a highlight to compete at home, with a fantastic audience, says Karsten Warholm.
Several Norwegian top performers also come to Ulsteinhallen, among them Marcus Thomsen, Amalie Iuel, Elisabeth Slettum, Hedda Hynne, Ingeborg Østgård, Amalie Sæten, Henrik Flåtnes, besides Karsten Warholm himself.
- We have managed to create a fine tradition with KWI. There will be participation on the top shelf in several exercises. I have faith that we will have a fantastic athletics party in Ulsteinhallen, says Karsten Warholm's manager and mother, Kristine Haddal, who is project manager for the event.
In the men's class, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, 1500 m, long and shot put are on the schedule for this year's KWI. The women have the following selection of exercises: 60 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, 1500 m, long jump and high jump.
NRK1 broadcasts live between 20:00 and 21:00 on the evening of the convention on Thursday 2 February.For any questions, contact manager and project manager Kristine Haddal at kristine@kmanagement.no. See also KWI (kwinvitational.no)