Nia Ali, Loving the Excitement of the 100m Hurdles, Part 1

Nia Ali

Statistician Mark Butler sent me his predictions for Paris at Christmas. It was a fascinating list, which I will keep and check later.  One prediction that caught my eye was Nia Ali to win the 100h.  Nia is a great hurdler, but come Paris, she will be nearer to her 36^th birthday than her 35^th.  Incidentally, if Mark is right, it will be quite a celebration in her household as he has Andre De Grasse down to win the men’s 200.

I had two encounters with Nia last year.  At the Athletissima in Lausanne, I left my seat during the program for a coffee or something, and Nia was sitting on the steps up to the stand (or bleachers, if you prefer).  As always, she was happy to chat.  Our second meeting was at a sponsor’s event in Zurich.

2023 was a mixed year for Nia. She was the US champion with 12.37, reached the final of the World Championship, finishing seventh, and reached the Diamond League final, again finishing seventh.  The race of the year was in the Monaco Herculis Diamond League, in which four Americans finished sub 12.40.  Nia was the winner with a world-leading Diamond League record, a personal best of 12.30.  She was pretty pleased afterwards: “I feel amazing, it was a PB for me it is the first time I win in a Diamond League. I cannot believe it, and it is lovely to have won here in Monaco, which is a beautiful place, and I really enjoy myself here. I am so happy I could give the best of myself here today. I started very fast and then in the middle of the race I told myself ‘do not fall asleep’. I really fought for it because I felt myself a bit behind at the last hurdle, but then I just attacked the finish line and won my best win. My objectives now for the rest of the season are to stay healthy and try to improve my technique. I know that Budapest will be a very strong competition and a fast race, so I look forward to the challenges”.  Yeah, right.  You have just run at 12.30, and your first thought is to improve your technique!

Nia has proved to be a championship competitor, winning the World Indoors in 2014 and 2016.  She has competed in five World Championships, winning in Doha in 2019 in 12.34, reaching the final in 2017 and 2023, and being a semi-finalist in her first in 2013.  The one big disappointment was Eugene, 2022, when she falsely…