US’ Holloway breaks 60m hurdles world record
AMERICA’S Grant Holloway broke Colin Jackson’s long-standing 60-meter indoor hurdles world record at Wednesday’s meeting in Madrid.
The 110m hurdles world champion ran 7.29 seconds to shave one-hundredth of a second off the record Briton Jackson set in 1994.
Holloway had already run 7.32 seconds in the heats and blitzed the competition in customary style on the way to claiming the new record, with Britain’s Andrew Pozzi finishing second in 7.51 seconds.
“I wouldn’t say it was a perfect race, but I tied my PR (personal record) in the heat and that usually means I run faster in the final,” World Athletics reported Holloway as saying. “I said before the race that if the record fell, it fell ... I know that it is not going to be in the record books forever and when I fall asleep tonight – if I fall asleep – it will already be in the past.
“The world record outdoors (12.80 seconds) is definitely in my sights but I want to let all this soak in first, then my priority is (to) win the Olympic Trials and then the Olympic gold medal.”
The 23-year-old had been in great form all winter, running under 7.40 seconds 10 times.
His two blistering runs on Wednesday – added to his performances in Lievin on Feb. 9 (7.32), Fayetteville on Jan. 24 (7.35) and Birmingham in March 2019 (7.35) – mean he has run five of the eight best times in the history of the discipline.
He is undefeated in 41 races over 60 meters since making his senior hurdles debut just over four years ago but will have to wait another two years for a chance to shine at the World Indoor Athletics Championships.