Paris (AFP) - Norwegian 400m hurdler Karsten Warholm was named men’s World Athlete of the Year on Wednesday for smashing the world record at the Tokyo Olympics.

Warholm’s time of 45.94sec in winning gold is widely considered one of the greatest Olympic track performances of all time.

The time erased the 29-year-old record of 46.78sec set by Kevin Young at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

“When I realised 45.94 was a reality, I thought, wow, I’ll take it,” Warholm said at the ceremony at the World Athletics ceremony in Monaco.