Zurich Diamond League organizers have confirmed that Armand Duplantis, the men’s pole vault champion from the Paris 2024 Olympics, will face off against Karsten Warholm, the silver medalist in the 400m hurdles, in a 100m sprint. This exciting race will take place on September 4th, just a day before the Zurich Diamond League 2024 begins. After months of speculation, the two top athletes will finally meet on the track.

The buzz around this race has been amplified by social media. Duplantis announced the matchup on X, which led Fred Kerley to comment, “Let me do 1v1 in 150 vs anybody.” Well, to this, Vernon L. Norwood, a 400m specialist, responded with, “Why you still scared to hop in that 400m?” To which Fred Kerley replied, “This relay guy none scared of no 400.”

This back-and-forth has only heightened anticipation for the upcoming event. Kerley, who initially made his mark in the 400m with a standout season in 2017, including a U.S. national title and a silver medal at the World Championships in London, shifted his focus to shorter sprints in 2021. This shift adds context to Norwood’s challenge and ramps up the excitement even further. But it didn’t end there only.

Vernon L. Norwood upped the ante by adding, “Line up. Show me greatness,” to which Fred Kerley responded, “Touch 43 and I gotcha.” For context, Kerley’s personal best in the 400m stands at 43.64, while Norwood, a two-time Olympic champion, has a best of 44.10.

Kerley, a three-time world champion and Olympic silver medalist, made a significant career shift when he moved from the 400m to the 100m and 200m sprints in 2021. This bold decision proved fruitful, as he won silver in the 100m at the Tokyo Olympics and claimed a world title in 2022. However, this isn’t the first time there has been controversy between the two. Just a week before, similar debates were making headlines.

Fred Kerley responds to Norwood’s jabs

Well, on 7th August the debate began with a question from 2016 Olympic 400m hurdles bronze medalist and the 2016 World Indoor silver medalist Ashley Spencer. On her X account, she posted, “Will the world ever see a @fkerley99 back in the quarter?” Spencer tagged Kerley in it. But as soon as Vernon Norwood saw Spencer’s post and reposted it, adding, “When I started running faster you notice he stepped down to 100m. That’s all you needed to know.”

Kerley quickly fired back at Norwood and responded, “I drop 43 on your head.” Kerley boasts the eighth-fastest 400m time ever recorded. In contrast, Norwood’s best 400m time has never dipped below 44 seconds. Adding to the rivalry, Kerley soon posted a screenshot from the World Athletics website, showing he had triumphed in seven of their eight head-to-head 400m races. It seems their rivalry is far from over, with this back-and-forth likely to keep rolling indefinitely.