I was supposed to watch the replay of the Prefontaine Classic, instead of staying up late to watch the live Euro Sport feed (I got home late). But I could not sleep. Soon enough, the clock struck 2:30 AM. I turned on the boob tube and my eyes were glued. I wasn’t disappointed.
The 110m high hurdles field featured a stellar lineup. At the heart of Tracktown, USA. Liu Xiang 刘翔 faced off with the best sprint hurdlers the United States had to offer. The 2004 Olympic Champion was the fastest off the blocks (0.131). As soon as the race commenced, Jason Richardson was 1/4 of a stride behind Liu. On Richardson’s left, Aries Merritt felled the first two hurdles and had to play catch up.
Liu was the portrait of perfection as he skimmed over the 1.067-meter high barriers and blazed through the three steps in between. The former world record built up his lead with every hurdle flight. By the halfway mark, he was pulling away from Richardson and Merritt. The 2012 World Indoor Champion, Merritt, recovered his bearing by the eight hurdler, as he overtook the fading Richardson.
The Chinese athletics star was in a class of his own. Upon clearing the tenth and final hurdle, Liu turned on his afterburners and dove to the tape, stopping the clock in 12.87s – faster than his erstwhile world record of 12.88s in 2006. Had the wind-reading been within the allowable limit, Liu’s swashbuckling performance would have tied Dayron Robles‘ world record.
The race was reminscent of Liu’s world record setting run in Lausanne back in 2006, with another American, with Merritt playing the role of Dominique Arnold (who set a then American record of 12.90s).
Lost in the wake of Liu’s phenomenal hurdling was Merritt, who dipped below the 13.00s barrier for the first time, albeit with a 2.4 m/s tail wind. The troika of Richardson (13.11s), Dexter Faulk (13.12s) and David Oliver (13.13s) was separated by just one-hundredths of a second.
Even if it was three-o’clock in the morning in the Philippines, I raised my arms in triumph and cheered like a madman at Liu’s victory! Seeing him in cloud is infectious! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Liu is definitely back!
The IAAF article on the Eugene 110m high hurdles read “Liu Xiang stuns with 12.87w Victory in Eugene.” His race, despite the tail wind, was one for the books. It was a stellar run, a picture-perfect performance, and a dominant display of hurdling. But it certainly wasn’t stunning. The word evokes surprise. Liu Xiang has a personal best of 12.88s and had run 12.97s this season. Him running 12.87w is not surprising – or stunning.
The 110m high hurdles in the 38th Prefontaine Classic has the makings of an epic race. Eugene, the United States’ Tracktown, is the fourth stop of the Samsung Diamond League.
Britain’s Andy Turner, the bronze medalist from Daegu, will also be in the thick of battle, as well as Liu’s understudy, Dongpeng Shi 史冬鹏 .
An interesting addition is Ashton Eaton, the heptathlon world record holder. Eaton, who attended the University of Oregon, will go head-to-head against the aforesaid sprint hurdling specialists onhis home track.
In terms of personal bests, Robles leads the pack with his current 12.87s world record. Liu (12.88s) and Oliver (12.94s) are the only one who had run below the 13-second barrier. Merritt (13.03s) and Richardson (13.04s) have almost identical lifetime bests. Shi had run an impressive 13.19s at the Osaka World Championships final, but have failed to replicate that form the past five years. Turner (13.22s) and Eaton (13.35s) round up the bottom two.
Liu, the 2012 world leader with 12.97s, is my pick to win the race (of course!), in light of his dominating performance at the recently concluded Shanghai Diamond League. I expect Robles (who is still recovering from an injury) to figure in a tight battle for second place with the in-form American sprint hurdling troika.
The talented Eaton could spring a surprise. If Shi and Turner perform below par, they could get beaten by a multi-eventer.
I know I’m getting ahead of myself when I say this, but the Eugene protagonists could possibly figure in the greatest sprint hurdling spectacle of all-time. We could see a new world record, should the conditions be conducive. The foursome of Liu, Oliver, Merrit and Richardson could all dip under 13-seconds. We might even see a rare dead heat! Regardless of the outcome, this race shall be one for the books.
David Oliver is on fire! After stopping the clock at 12.93s at the U.S. Championships weeks ago, the burly bruiser matched Dominique Arnold’s 4-year old national record of 12.90s. Oliver now co-owns the third fastest sprint hurdles time in history, behind Dayron Robles’ 12.87s and Liu Xiang’s and Robles’ 12.88s.
Oliver had a fine start (although he said later in the interview that “he did not get a good start!”) and and an even better finishing kick. The 2008 Beijing bronze medalist had a clean race despite clipping the 8th and 10th hurdle with his thigh. Oliver shrugged off the early challenge of 2009 World Champion Ryan Braithwaithe, David Payne and the eventual 2nd placer, Ryan Wilson (13.16s).
With his prolific performance at the iconic Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, the 28-year old overtook hurdling greats Colin Jackson (the former world record holder at 12.91s) and the ageless Allen Johnson (12.92s).
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