12.24, and Beyond!

When it comes to Keni Harrison, the new American record holder in the 100 meter hurdles, everything she does impresses me, but nothing she does surprises me. Two months ago she shook up the world with the fastest-ever season opener in the event, running 12.36. That race indicated that big things were to come, and Harrison has not disappointed. At the Prefontaine Classic a couple weeks ago, she rocketed out of the starting blocks, took control of the race, didn’t touch a hurdle, and went on to break the American record owned by Brianna Rollins, who finished second in the race, by .02.

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Before summer has officially arrived on the calendar, before any “big” meets have taken place, Harrison has already had a season for the ages. The question now is, how much faster can she run? Can she break the world record?

The answer to the latter question is yes. For a variety of reasons, it is appearing that Harrison is uniquely capable of taking the event to a whole new level, and of keeping it there for many years to come. It seems we are about to enter an era where 12.30 will be the new 12.60, meaning if you can’t run that fast, you can’t expect to make a national team or win an international medal. This new era began with Sally Pearson’s 12.28 in 2011, continued with Rollins’ 12.26 in 2013, and continues further with Harrison’s 12.24 a couple weeks ago. In addition, we can’t forget Jasmine Stowers’ 12.35 and Sharika Nelvis’ 12.34 last year.

As female hurdlers continue to get faster and technically sound, the limits of what can be accomplished will continue to be pushed further and further. Right now, Harrison is in a class all her own, but that could change quickly, as she is not the only one capable of pushing the event to new heights. But let me go ahead and explain what makes her unique, and why I believe she could go as fast as sub-12.10 before the end of the 2016 season.

One reason I think she can run that fast is simple math. Usually, among elite hurdlers, the season opener will be about three tenths slower than what they later run as their season’s best. So someone who opens at 12.90 will get down to 12.60. Harrison opened at 12.36, so just by progressing naturally through the course of the season, she would get down to 12.06. The argument against that logic would be that the faster your season opener is, the less time you’ll drop throughout the season, simply because there is less room for improvement.

I agree with that logic in principle, but not when it comes to Harrison. Here’s why. When I talked with her after the Pre meet, I asked her if that race felt any different than the 12.36 from earlier in the season. She answered that she got a better start and found her rhythm sooner. “It didn’t feel fast,” she said, “just really smooth. Plus I wasn’t hitting any hurdles. In Georgia I was hitting hurdles.” She said she was surprised when she saw the time.

When asking the question, I was expecting to hear her say that she had felt super-crowded, that the hurdles were rushing up at her. The fact that she didn’t feel that way tells me she has room to run faster. My logical, rational mind argues against what is obvious: that she is still far from peaking. How can you break the American record and not feel crowded?

Harrison on her way to setting a new American record.

Harrison answered that question by making a simple observation: at 5’4”, she is smaller than most hurdlers, so she has more room to sprint between them. Maybe when the day finally comes that the women’s hurdles are raised to 36 inches, being smaller will be more of a disadvantage. But as things currently stand, women Keni’s height – in that 5’3” – 5’5” arguably have a distinct advantage over taller hurdlers who are always trying to negotiate the space between the hurdles. I would think that a taller hurdler like Stowers will be more limited than a Harrison or Rollins because of this height issue. The point being made here is that, when it comes to the hurdles, the main key is not so much being the fastest sprinter, but being able to a higher percentage of your sprint speed than your opponents.

I would argue too that Harrison’s technique also allows her to maximize her speed between the hurdles. She clears the hurdles very low, but she does so without locking the knee of her lead leg. Her trail leg still bothers me a bit because of the heel getting away from her at times, but she is a killer coming off of hurdles, always creating more speed with her get-away stride. Also, her lead arm punches up and down in a very tight range of motion. Many women hurdlers open up the elbow of the lead arm like male hurdlers do. It’s an unnecessary action when the hurdles are 33 inches tall. Harrison’s lead arm helps to push her lead leg to the ground and to drive her trail leg to the front. Such technical proficiency means landing closer to the hurdle she just cleared, thereby giving her more room to sprint to the next one. Last year, her trail leg was sloppy and would cause her to decelerate significantly in the latter part of the race, but such is not the case anymore. She stays in the middle of the lane all the way down the track.

Another thing to consider is that Harrison has benefitted tremendously from being free of the college schedule. That means no more 4×100 legs, no more 4×400 legs, no more 400 meter hurdles. For the first time in her track career, she can focus specifically on her specialty. She ran 12.50 last year despite competing in three or four events each meet, including NCAA nationals. In her training and in competitions, all focus is geared toward mastering the 100 meter hurdles. We are seeing the benefits of that situation. Also, whereas a lot of first-year pros enter new situations with new coaches and a new training environment, Harrison has stayed in Kentucky with Coach Floreal, whom she trusts and whom she knows has confidence in her, and she has been able to train with her former collegiate teammates.

Of all the things Harrison said to me in our phone conversation after the Pre meet, the one that surprised me the most was when she told me that she has yet to do hardly any speed work at all. Of course, it makes sense – an elite athlete preparing to peak at the Olympic Trials doesn’t want to start speed work too soon. But the shock comes from the fact that she ran 12.24 without doing much speed work. The obvious thing to conclude based on that information is that, once she does incorporate speed work into her training, then we will see the truly mind-blowing times, under 12.20, and beyond.

In regards to that line of discussion, I would say that Keni may well be one of those rare athletes who just knows how to run fast when it’s time to run fast, regardless of where she is in her training. Renaldo Nehemiah’s high school coach, Jean Poquette, said that about Renaldo. He said that Renaldo did very little speed work on his way to running 12.9 as a prep. Meets were his speed work. Having coached Harrison for two years, I can say that she has that same gift, that same capacity for shifting gears as necessary.

It’s looking to me like Harrison is a perfect-storm type of athlete. Her height, her speed, her technique, her will to win, her humility, her ability to focus, come together to form an athlete who is capable of greatness without getting caught up in the fame and the temptations that come with success.

So when she runs something in the 12.10 range later this summer, be impressed, but don’t be surprised.

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