Grant Holloway Runs 12.81, 2nd Fastest Ever in 110m Hurdles
By Jonathan Gault
June 26, 2021
EUGENE, Ore. — Grant Holloway is steadily climbing the list of the greatest high hurdlers in history. After winning the 110-meter hurdles world title as a 21-year-old in 2019, Holloway came out hot to begin the Olympic year of 2021, authoring the greatest 60-meter hurdle campaign in history, capped with a world record of 7.29 seconds in Madrid on February.
But Holloway has always maintained that the Olympic title is the one he covets most, the one that can propel him to legendary status. He took a huge step toward that goal today by running 12.81 in the semifinals of the US Olympic Trials at Hayward Field, the second-fastest time in history and just one-hundredth of a second off Aries Merritt’s 2012 world record.
Holloway, who set his previous personal best of 12.98 to win the NCAA title in 2019 and break Renaldo Nehemiah’s legendary 13.00 collegiate record from 1979, has always had great starts (he was also the NCAA champion in the flat 60 meters that year) but has made it a point to improve his finish. And his finish today was strong; after separating from the field by halfway, he did not ease up and, sensing the time might be fast, pushed all the way through the finish.
Video of race below:
A little less than two hours later, Holloway returned for the final and won his first US outdoor title in 12.96 (his second-fastest time ever) to clinch his first Olympic berth. 2016 Trials champ Devon Allen was second in 13.10, with Holloway’s collegiate rival, 2019 US champ Daniel Roberts, earning the final Olympic spot in 13.11.
Semifinal results
Final results
More on Grant Holloway:
From March 2021: LRC LetsRun.com Track Talk Podcast: Grant Holloway interview Holloway joined the LRC podcast to discuss his 60m hurdle world record in Madrid
From February 2021: LRC Grant Holloway Breaks 60-Meter Hurdle World Record To Cap Greatest 60 Hurdle Season Ever
From October 2019: LRC Grant Holloway Closes Out Epic 2019 Season With His First World 110M Hurdles Title