The China Mail - Warholm and Bol headline hurdling royalty on Day 7 of Tokyo worlds

AFP Sport looks at the two 400m hurdles events:

- Men's 400m hurdles final -

The iconic image of Warholm streaking through the finish line at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Olympics in a world record time for hurdles gold was one of the most enduring from those Games.

He ripped open his running singlet in sheer exultation as the record time was flashed up on the board, and the Norwegian -- later pictured wearing a plastic Viking helmet -- became an instant sensation.

Warholm is back to some of his best form this season. He stormed to victory at the Silesia Diamond League in an astonishing 46.28 seconds.

It was the third fastest time ever run over the distance, topped only by Warholm's own world record of 45.94sec and American Rai Benjamin's 46.19sec.

Benjamin, who won Olympic gold at last year's Paris Games, said after Wednesday's semi-finals he was ready for another "historic" tussle with Warholm and Brazil's Alison dos Santos.

The trio have dominated the event in recent years, pushing each other to ever greater times and sharing out the global accolades between them.

"I think it's going to be really fast," said 28-year-old Benjamin.

"I hope it's historic and I hope I'm on the right side of history this time."

Warholm coasted home in second in his semi, but the result means "I can have an outside lane in the final, it'll be fun".

"Running (the semi) was very nice because I had control. I got the answers I was looking for. It's nice to see there is pace there as well.

"I feel confident of course, being on this track. But out there you have Dos Santos, you have Rai Benjamin, really good runners, hard workers, and they can challenge."

- Women's 400m hurdles final -

Bol is the absolute odds-on favourite to retain her title in the women's race.

There is a notable absentee from the final line-up: double Olympic champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who has opted to run the 400m flat.

In the absence of the American, Bol, 25, has lost her chance of a tasty head-to-head and, there can be no denying, the race some of its pull.

But Bol, who this year completed an incredible sixth Diamond League season unbeaten, warned that she wanted to go better in the final.

"This is the best form I have been in the whole year. I want to run my fastest race of the season in the final," the Dutch hurdler said.

"I can do better in the final but there is one gold and I want to win it. The time doesn't matter. I am not putting any pressure on myself."

Competition will likely come from the American duo of Anna Cockrell and the 2016 Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad, who at 35 seeks one final glorious hurrah, and Panama's Gianna Woodruff, the trio all training partners.

"It is a real testament to our group that three of us are through," Cockrell said.

"To do well in the final always takes incredible poise and an incredible competitive edge.

"I expect the times are going to be fast, they have been fast for the last 10 years. It is going to be a hot race. It is going to be competitive. It is going to go down to the wire."

B.Clarke--ThChM