How Fast Can Holloway Go?
by Steve McGill
In the midst of the pandemic and the resultant fewer competitions over the past year and a half, it hasn’t been easy to tell who the best hurdlers are. But as races are beginning to occur more frequently and the world slowly creeps out of the shadow of the coronavirus, we can start looking again at who’s doing what and what we can expect. In the men’s 110 meter high hurdles, the name that has been standing out above all others is that of Grant Holloway, the former University of Florida superstar who most certainly would’ve been a favorite at the 2020 Olympics had they been held, and still will be if the Games are held this year.
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At Florida, Holloway broke one of the oldest NCAA records in the world in 2019, when he ran 12.98 to win the NCAA outdoor championship, breaking Renaldo Nehemiah’s 40-year-old record of 13.00, which was the world record at the time. In becoming the first ever collegiate athlete to run under 13-flat, Holloway set himself on a path toward greatness that is continuing to unfold before our eyes.
Most recently, on February 24 of this year, Holloway broke another long-standing record — the world indoor record in the 60m hurdles. In Madrid, Spain, in the World Athletics Indoor Tour, he ran 7.32 in the semifinal round to tie the American record. Then, in the final, he ran 7.29 to break Colin Jackson’s 27-year-old world indoor record of 7.30.
So, he’s doing some remarkable things. When you’re breaking records set by the likes of Nehemiah and Jackson — records that have withstood the test of time to an astounding degree, there’s no reason not to think that you’re on the way to becoming an all-time great. In Holloway’s case, there’s no doubt that he still needs to refine some things in his race, but there’s also no doubt that he is in the process of doing so, and that he has the work ethic and mindset associated with the greats of the past in the event. In an article that appeared on April 12, Holloway made it clear that greats of the past are exactly whom he has been consulting for tips and advice on how to continue with his stunning progress. Inspired by watching the 10-part documentary The Last Dance about Michael Jordan, and particularly the episode that focuses on how Kobe Bryant would pick Jordan’s brain before, after, and even during games, Holloway set out on a mission to do the same.
Over the past couple years, Holloway has spoken with the likes of Jackson, Allen Johnson, David Oliver, and Aries Merritt, all of whom have been gracious and open in sharing information with him — including Merritt, who is still competing himself. Holloway’s aim, he said, was to talk to as many people who have faster than he has. In the article, he says that when he talks to these legends, he wants to figure out ways to make his weaknesses his strengths.
If you were to ask me what his weaknesses are, I would say he doesn’t have many, and that he has none that are major. In a Zoom call with Nehemiah (which is discussed in detail in another article for this issue of the magazine), he noted that Holloway is very strong for the first part of the race, but tends to be not as strong for the second half. Though he doesn’t fall apart, he does sometimes make mistakes, lose his rhythm, and get a little wobbly in the lane. In that part of the Zoom call, we were talking about how hurdlers today tend to emphasize speed to an extreme degree, and that such an emphasis can lead to issues later in the race. Obviously, as Nehemiah noted, Holloway has run in the 44’s in the 400 meters, so he doesn’t have an issue with overall conditioning. But a hurdle race with 42-inch barriers coming at you every ten yards is different from an open running event. It would be accurate to say that any mistakes Holloway makes in his races occur in its latter stages. So, hurdle-specific endurance may indeed be an issue.
One of the things I’ve noticed is that he sometimes clears the hurdles higher than he needs to; the air space between the barrier and his calf sometimes is too much. So that’s something he could improve upon. The other thing is, his trail leg knee will sometimes point down, which leads to a wider, slower path to the front. That’s the type of flaw that’s not problematic in a race’s early stages, but can be once fatigue sets in.
So, how fast do I think Holloway can go? Well, the world record is 12.80, and he already broke the indoor world record, so logic says there’s no reason to believe he can’t break the outdoor record as well. Still, a ten-hurdle race is not the same as a five-hurdle race, so there are no guarantees. You don’t really pay a price for mistakes in a five-hurdle race the way you do in a 10-hurdle race. With his technique being exactly as it is now, I say he can go under 12.90 without a doubt, and that he can run in the 12.90’s on a fairly regular basis.
Now, if he can tighten up that trail leg action and eliminate that delay in the trail leg, and if he can lower his hurdle clearance and thereby reduce his airtime by a smidgen, then, yes, I see him going under 12.80. How far under 12.80, I don’t know, but I would say in the 12.75 range. At 6’3”, he’s already attacking the hurdles on the type of downhill angle that I find essential. He’s not a timber toppler, as we used to refer to hurdlers back in the day who hit a lot of hurdlers. He has excellent upper body posture throughout his races. His lead arm action is solid — tight and precise and constantly humming, although the arm does move laterally some. Other than Orlando Ortega, I can’t think of another hurdler out there now who is more sound technically. Speaking of which, I wouldn’t sleep on Ortega either challenging Aries’ world record. In the race below, from last summer, we can see, in a ten-hurdle race, that Ortega will be right there with Holloway.
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