Norwegian Karsten Warholm, world record holder and Olympic champion in the 400m hurdles, stressed that he will do everything in his power at the World Championships in Eugene in the USA to win a third world title.

“Now I can say with confidence that I’m going to Hayward Stadium, giving my all,” said Warholm, who suffered a torn thigh muscle in recent weeks against the Diamond Ligament after returning to competition.

The 26-year-old, who won the world title in the last two tournaments, in London in 2017 and in Doha in 2019, told reporters: “There is nothing better than going to the World Cup and feeling good. I enjoy participating, and when I say I enjoy participating, it always means 100%.”

Warholm announced last week that he was not 100% ready to compete in the World Championship scheduled for July 15-24, noting that “it takes time to recover from this. The injury was difficult because of the timing.”

Warholm was treated in Germany in combination with classes in the pool with a physiotherapist, hoping to be ready for the World Cup.

Warholm described what happened to him as “a personal disaster. I’ve been close to hell for the last five or six weeks. It was really difficult, I had this injury and you don’t know how it will go every day.”

But Warholm, who set a super-record of 45.94 seconds in Tokyo, kept his high hopes up, saying, “We’ve done some tests to get to this level and I feel good.”

He added that his absence from the competition did not reduce his chances of winning the yellow metal in Eugenia, pointing out that he did not compete in any races this year.

The Norwegian recalled last year’s achievement at the Tokyo Olympics when, in his first appearance of the season, he took gold with a world record.

“Of course you want to run a few races to gain confidence, but on the other hand, confidence is not my problem,” he said.

He explained: “It will be a challenge for me, in the sense that I don’t know what I can offer, but I know for sure that all the training before the injury was very good.”

“Obviously this is not the ideal way to compete in the World Championships,” he added.

He added that his race, which “requires technical prowess, physical strength and great effort to clear 10 obstacles in a single lap, is not for the faint of heart”, acknowledging that “this is perhaps the most difficult challenge I will undertake in this parts.” my professional career.”

“When you’re running you can’t compensate for anything, the 400m hurdles has to be 100% perfect, you can’t compensate for that. I need to feel here that I am 100% fit and I think I am, but time will tell what I think.”

Warholm will face stiff competition from American Ray Benjamin and Brazilian Alison Dos Santos.

“They won’t give me time to relax,” he said with a wry smile. “The level is so high right now and they’re showing very fast results right now.”

He expressed hope, “I can return to this competition and I’m really looking forward to it. That’s what I love to do, I’m a very competitive person.”