2023 Deji’s Doodles #4: Warholm goes gung-ho in the 400m in Istanbul, Jacobs comes unstuck in the 60m, Bol remains undefeated and in Tokyo, Rosemary Wanjiru moves to sixth all-time in the women’s marathon

Deji’s Doodles: Warholm goes gung-ho in the 400m in Istanbul, Jacobs comes unstuck in the 60m, Bol remains undefeated and in Tokyo, Rosemary Wanjiru moves to sixth all-time in the women’s marathon

What a weekend! The European Indoor championships in Istanbul was a spectacle for athletics fans as we witnessed breathtaking athletics all around. From Karsten Warholm running a ruthless 400m to dive at the end to Femke Bol showing why she’s the quarter-miler to watch out for this season and Marcell Jacobs coming unstuck to an unknown sprinter. Over in Japan, we saw the Tokyo marathon go down, and the depth of the marathon, especially on the women’s side, is just on another scale as Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru moved to sixth all-time with her victory in the Asian city. 

Fearless or Foolish from Karsten Warholm?

Every single time Karsten Warholm laces his spikes to run, there will always be a chunk of the audience that questions his running style. It defies conventional wisdom, but he almost wins. Until last year when a hamstring injury derailed the defense of his 400m Hurdles title.  Warholm holds multiple titles across the board in the event, including Olympic and world titles. 

He also is the world record holder with 45.94s, so it feels strange for people to question his running approach. But the problem with that is it will most often come up when he loses a race or is on the verge of one, as seen with the defense of his European 400m indoor title. Warholm came charging the first 200m in Istanbul like a bulldog (even a bulldog loses steam at some point and begins to tire out), ripping through that half with reckless abandon in 20.84.

Now there is a very thin line between fearless and foolish, and for the most part, people don’t know when they end up crossing it. For Warholm, he was within whiskers of his approach, being a foolish one. When he hit 300m in an astonishing 32.32, he had very little in the tank to push on. He did push and held on for the win as he brazed the odds to win in 45.35s as Belgium’s Julien Watrin closed fast to set a national record of 45.44.

At some point, Warholm would have to rethink this approach, especially when he comes up against much stiffer opposition. His body isn’t in the stellar shape it used to be, considering he’s just coming back from injury. Adapting to evolving circumstances is…