Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis and Karsten Warholm may be rivals on the track but are great friends off it. So, it wasn’t surprising to see Duplantis and his girlfriend Desiré Inglander, vacationing with Warholm and her partner Oda Djupvik, in Italy. However, it was quite the moment when the world and Olympic record-holding pole vaulter met a soccer legend during their trip.

The track and field stars visited Italy just weeks after Duplantis came out on top against Warholm at the special 100m clash. Their 100m sprint contest officially kicked off the 2024 Diamond League finals. However, the off-track buddies couldn’t skip experiencing the electric Milan derby between AC and Inter Milan. However, no one foresaw the 24-year-old meeting former AC Milan and soccer icon, Zlatan Ibrahimović.

Even the official AC Milan social media handle couldn’t help but post the meeting of the Swedish sporting icons. Mondo Duplantis and Ibrahimović seemed delighted to see one another. Besides posing for photos, the pair had a conversation and also exchanged some laughs, as captured in AC Milan’s montage video.

The footage captured the highlights of their meeting but masked the original audio with background music. While Duplantis and Zlatan Ibrahimović’s meeting may have been a surprise, it’s no surprise to see the retired soccer legend at the Milan derby. The 42-year-old is one of the few players who have played for both soccer giants from Milan.

The four-time UEFA Team of the Year member started his Serie A journey with Inter in 2006. After a short stint at Barcelona, Ibrahimović returned to Italy as part of AC Milan’s starting 11 in 2011. However, It seems Mondo Duplantis was the only one who got to meet Zlatan Ibrahimović. Karsten Warholm appeared in photos with Duplantis but doesn’t have one with the soccer icon.

Yet, that didn’t dampen the Olympic silver medalist’s excitement. The 400m hurdles specialist also enjoyed the derby, which saw AC Milan beat Inter in a 2-1 thriller. Yet, now that the vacation is over, Duplantis and Warholm’s paths will diverge once again.

Mondo Duplantis and Karsten Warholm seem to have different plans

It was evident from their photographs that the track and field stars had a great time during their Italian adventure. Warholm and the Paris 2024 Pole vault champion even spent time with Italian track and field star Gianmarco Tamberi. The Tokyo 2020 high jump champion and his wife Chiara Bontempi Tamberi joined the athletes on their vacation to his homeland.

However, with the conclusion of their vacation, the two athletes seem to be in very different headspaces. To say Mondo Duplantis had a successful 2024 track and field season would be an understatement. The Swedish athlete smashed his previous world and Olympic record dramatically in Paris. As if that wasn’t enough, the pole vault legend capped off his season with a Diamond League title.

Duplantis looked untouchable this season. However, the 2024 season was a mixed bag for Karsten Warholm. Losing ‘Karsten vs. Mondo’ was nothing more than a blow to the hurdler’s ego. Considering the humble nature of Warholm it was nothing more than a friendly contest. However, losing the Olympic crown was a different story.

The Tokyo 2020 gold medalist lost to USA’s Rai Benjamin and had to settle for silver. He’s itching to return to practice and improve for the coming season. “Impressions from vacation! Good times and good people. I want to go home and train now…” the Norwegian hurdler wrote in his latest Instagram post.

Meanwhile, Duplantis hasn’t talked about returning to practice since the Diamond League ended. Yet, no matter what Mondo Duplantis plans to do next, meeting Zlatan Ibrahimović during a Milan derby is an experience that will stay with him.