D.O and Ryan Wilson in Moscow
by Steve McGill
For this month’s great race, we’re going to take a look back to the men’s 110 hurdle final at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. This race, won by David Oliver, included four Americans — Oliver, Ryan Wilson, Jason Richardson, and Aries Merritt. Merritt, the previous year, had set the hurdling world on fire with an undefeated season in which he won the Olympic gold medal and demolished the world record with a 12.80 that no one has come close to since. But in 2013 he was struggling with injury, so he was no longer dominating, although he remained a threat for the gold. Richardson had won the 2011 World Championship, although most observers didn’t consider him a “real” champion because of the circumstances under which he won. Liu Xiang of China and Dayron Robles of Cuba had gotten their arms tangled late in the race, with Robles being disqualified for impeding Liu. As a result, Richardson won the gold. Wilson, meanwhile, was an older hurdler by 2013 who had yet to medal at a major championship, although he’d been knocking on the door for years. Famous for running in a plain white singlet for many years due to not having a contract, Wilson was having an excellent 2013, and this race looked to be his best shot to make it to the victory stand. Then there was Oliver, who had been a top hurdler for almost a full decade by this point, but had yet to reach the status of some of his competition over the years, such as Liu, Robles, and Allen Johnson.
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Also in the final were William Sharman of Great Britain, Sergey Shubenkov of Russia, Andrew Riley of Jamaica, and Thomas Martinot-Lagarde (brother of Pascal) of France. The chances for an American sweep were high, with the young Shubenkov considered the greatest threat to bust it up.
With lanes 2-9 being used for the race, Oliver was in lane four, next to Shubenkov in lane five. The other three Americans were in the outside lanes — Richardson in seven, Merritt in eight, and Wilson in nine. Wilson’s lane assignment decreased his chances of medaling, as, even though the race is run on the straightaway, we all know that being in an outside lane creates a psychological disadvantage of knowing the athletes with the best times in the semis will be in the middle lanes, not to mention it’s hard to see everyone else from way over there.
Oliver, whose seven-step approach to the first hurdle had been hit or miss over the previous couple of years, hit the nail on the head with this one, as he drove out to an early lead and took control of the race from the outset. Riley, in lane three, was a millisecond behind him, and stayed with him for four hurdles before he began to fall back a bit. Then Riley started hitting hurdles, causing him to fall out of contention. Meanwhile, Shubenkov and Richardson looked to be next in line for medals, although it didn’t look like either of them would catch Oliver. And Merritt was still close enough that an American sweep looked possible. But wait, lo and behold, Wilson all the way over there in lane nine was making serious noise! Literally in the sense that he was hitting a lot of hurdles, and figuratively in the sense that he was making a big move, passing everybody except Oliver as the athletes neared the last two hurdles.
Off the final hurdle, Oliver was clearly ahead by a full stride over Wilson, and Richardson was slightly ahead of Shubenkov for the third spot. Merritt, in fifth, looked like he still might sneak in for a medal, and Sharman was about dead-even with Merritt.
Oliver sprinted off the last hurdle and increased his lead, while Wilson similarly increased the distance between himself and third place. But Richardson stumbled off the last hurdle and was passed by Shubenkov for the bronze.
Oliver won in a very fast time of 13.00, with Wilson second in 13.13, and Shubenkov third in 13.24. Richardson finished fourth in 13.27, just missing the chance for the American sweep. Sharman beat out Merritt for fifth — 13.30 to 13.31.
This race was a very gratifying one for Oliver, who had never won a gold medal in a major championship, and had suffered some disappointing performances at major championships in the past. Always, whenever he lost, he reacted with grace and dignity, congratulating the victors, expressing gratitude for the opportunity to represent his country, and vowing to keep working hard. Not once did he ever complain or make excuses. And he would always remind everybody that as a “nobody” coming out of the small program of Howard University, he had proved a lot of doubters wrong by making it as far as he had.
Having interviewed Oliver a couple times for this website and having had a chance to get to know him personally a little bit, I felt very happy for him when he crossed the finish line in first place. He’s definitely one of the good guys in a sport that doesn’t have a lot of good guys. By 2013 he was 31 years old; his chances of standing atop the medal stand were running short, and he seized this opportunity and grabbed it by the throat. Though he had run faster in 2010, when he ran a blistering 12.89, there were no major championships that year. This victory here in Moscow proved to be the crowning achievement of his career, and I would say that it allowed him to be considered among the all-time greats of the event.
For Wilson, too, this was a race of redemption. After years of running without a sponsor, of competing against the best but never being considered one of them, he powered through those hurdles and ran what proved to be the best race of his life.
Another note of interest about this race is that it marked a peak of American dominance in the event. In the previous decade, Liu, Robles, and Ladji Doucoure of France had dominated the 110’s. Then with Richardson’s WC gold in 2011, Merritt’s outstanding 2012 campaign, and now this 1-2-4 finish at the 2013 WC’s, American hurdlers were back on top.
And it hasn’t been as good for the Americans since. And it may never be again.
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