An In-Depth Look at the 100 and 110 Hurdles
by Steve McGill
As I look back on the USA Olympic Trials and other developments in Diamond League meets in this issue of The Hurdle Magazine, I want to turn the focus to the short hurdle races in this article. I think we can talk about the men’s and women’s events in one article, since there were no world records broken in either event, even though there was a close call. And let’s start by discussing the hurdler who gave us that close call: Grant Holloway.
I wrote an article not too long ago talking about Holloway and comparing his technique to that of Spain’s Orlando Ortega. In that article, I ultimately came to the conclusion that Holloway is faster and stronger and has a better start, but Ortega has the more refined technique, so Ortega should be able to compete with Holloway over ten hurdles.
[am4show not_have=’g5;’]
[/am4show][am4guest]
[/am4guest][am4show have=’g5;’]
Now I’m not so sure. I’m becoming convinced that Holloway is so gifted in so many ways that everybody else is basically racing for second place. Even though I still feel like his trail leg lags behind too much for my liking, and that his lead arm action could be more efficient, ala a Liu Xiang or Dominique Arnold or even an Orlando Ortega, I’m coming to realize that it doesn’t really matter. Holloway is starting to put complete races together now. We’re not seeing him get floaty and twisty and sideways late in races anymore. He’s staying forward and maintaining his cadence all the way through now. And if he continues to do that, and there’s no reason to think that he won’t, everyone else can just forget about it.
I’ve been either hurdling or watching hurdlers or coaching hurdlers since I was sixteen years old, and I’ve never seen a hurdler with a faster start than Holloway’s. Maybe Terrence Trammell. But I don’t think so. Holloway creates separation before he even gets to hurdle one. He’s not just touching down before other dudes; he’s not just a nose ahead. He’s a full stride ahead. So, when you’re running against Holloway, you’re always running from behind. That can be demoralizing after a while, especially when you know he won’t be coming back to you later in the race. When you look at his progression over the last few years — from breaking Renaldo Nehemiah’s ancient NCAA record in 2019, to breaking the world indoor record earlier this year, to busting a 12.81 in the semi-finals at the Trials, you can see where this is heading. He is blazing a path to all-time greatness. Even in a relatively sub-par race in the final, he ran 12.96. I’ll go out on a limb here and predict he will not only win gold in Tokyo, but he will also break the world record at some point this summer, and that he will run under 12.80 more than once this summer.
Second and third at the Trials were Daniel Roberts and Devon Allen. The same three guys who represented the USA at Worlds in 2019 will be representing again at the Tokyo Olympics. It now seems like a long time ago that Roberts and Holloway were slugging it out in college, with Roberts emerging victorious often enough that it could be called a rivalry. But Roberts hasn’t progressed at the same pace, and he hasn’t improved upon the glaring technical flaws he had in college. Allen, meanwhile, has impressed me. In an article I wrote last month, I was saying that Omar McLeod could serve as a great model for smaller hurdlers in regard to how to negotiate the 42-inch barriers. I would say the same applies to Allen, who demonstrated throughout the rounds and in the finals the ability to lean deeply, to hold the lean, and to stay fast between the hurdles without losing balance coming off the hurdles.
Speaking of McLeod, things have not gone well for the 2016 Olympic champion after starting the season on a very strong note, including what was a world-leading 13.01 at the time. But at the Jamaican Olympic Trials, McLeod, who says he was suffering from leg cramps in the final, smashed the first hurdle, fell behind, and never caught back up, finishing last. In a more recent race, at Gateshead, England on the Diamond League tour, he again had trouble negotiating the barriers as he was high and twisted over the last three hurdles, with the tenth one being the worst. In the early part of the season, it was looking like he had solved those issues, but apparently that’s not the case. So, the 2016 Olympic champion, who would have probably been the most likely individual to have a chance at defeating Holloway, will not have a chance to defend his title.
On the women’s side of the short hurdles, Keni Harrison looked efficient and confident in taking care of business through the rounds and in the finals. Though she hasn’t reached the level of accomplishment that she reached in 2016, when she ran sub-12.30 twice and broke the world record, she has grown tremendously in regards to staying calm and focused in big races. In a ZOOM INTERVIEW I did with her a couple weeks ago, she discussed her gradual maturity in this regard, pointing out that she has been seeing a sports psychologist on a regular basis and that doing so has helped her to stay in the moment and enter “the zone.” Because I coached Keni for two years when she was in high school, I’ll always be cheering for her and will always lack objectivity when she races, because we grew very close during our time together and I will always think the world of her.
Unfortunately, one of her former teammates and chief rivals, Brianna Rollins-McNeal (Keni and Brianna were teammates at Clemson for two years, before Keni transferred to Kentucky and Brianna went pro) will not be racing in Tokyo even though she finished a close second (12.47-12.51) at the Trials. A five-year doping ban is the reason why. Her ban was put on hold by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, allowing her to compete at the Trials. But the ban was upheld shortly afterward. Like McLeod, Rollins is another 2016 Olympic champion who won’t have a chance to defend her title, which is a very disappointing situation for Rollins, for USA Track & Field, and for track fans all over the world who want to see the best compete against each other. Meanwhile, congratulations to Christina Clemons, who grabbed the third spot in 12.53. I once worked with her a long time ago when she was in high school, and her last name was still Manning. Her dad brought her down from Maryland for a few sessions, and she had a lot to fix back then. It’s been amazing seeing her progress into one of the top hurdlers in the world, and one of the most technically-sound hurdlers as well. Fourth-place finisher Gabbi Cunningham, who also ran 12.53, will now be going to Tokyo due to the ban on Rollins-McNeal. Gotta mention Ana Cockrell here too, who finished fifth in 12.58. She almost pulled off the nearly impossible feat of qualifying for the Games in both hurdle events.
Despite the outstanding performances at the Trials, there’s no reason to expect a repeat of the US sweep that we saw in 2016. In fact, the favorite going into the Games has to be Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, the Kentucky graduate who will be running for Puerto Rico. Camacho-Quinn has been having an outstanding season this year, running under 12.40 twice, including a world-leading 12.32. She is a tall, strong hurdler with a very quick lead leg. To defeat her, Harrison will more than likely need to go under 12.40 herself — which she is quite capable of, but hasn’t done thus far this year. Though I doubt the world record will be threatened in this event (unlike the other three hurdling events), this should still be a very exciting race in Tokyo, with a lot of medal contenders pushing each other to the tape.
[/am4show]
