Aries Merritt ran below 13 seconds at the Monaco leg of the Samsung Diamond League. With the Olympics opening barely a week away, this was a strong signal that he really does mean business.
Merritt took off like a bullet, with a reaction time of 0.112s. A recent convert to the seven-stride starting pattern, the former U.S. collegiate champion cleared the first barrier ahead of the other hurdlers.
As the race progressed, so did Merritt’s lead over the classy field that included Jason Richardson and David Oliver.
Merritt tied his personal best of 12.93s, the fastest time in the world this year, for the third time this season! Richardson, the 2011 World Champion, got second place (13.08s), with the newly-minted European Champion Sergey Shubenkov (13.09s) breathing down his neck all the way to the finish line. Oliver was fourth in 13.14s.
Whereas Richardson had the tendency to hit hurdles, Merritt has been flawless over the barriers. I’ve often overlooked Merritt when it comes to technical proficiency, particularly because of his high lead arm carriage. But he clears hurdles like a beast – a controlled and serene one at that. Merritt’s lead leg action is remarkably compact. He is not as aggressive and brooding as Oliver. Merritt has this certain kind of relaxed flair reminiscent of a Roger Kingdom.
Shubenkov was the revelation of the race. Although he had first run his 13.09s national record at the Helskinki European Championships preliminaries, doing it again on Monaco – against the full firepower of the American hurdling nation, at that – is no mean feat.
Overall, it was an entertaining race to watch. You can see from the expressions of the hurdlers prior to race, Shubenkov and Merritt in particular, the sheer love and joy hurdling. There was none of that “we’re all grumpy professionals and we do this for the money” crap!
I’m still sticking with my forecast for London 2012, albeit with slight revisions: Liu Xiang 刘翔 shall win a close fight for gold against Merritt, with Richardson and Shubenkov slugging it out for the bronze.
Hurdler49: Hurdling the Real World 