THE ADVICE WAS SIMPLE. Grant Holloway said his coach told him before the 110 hurdles final “just to trust my first four steps and it will take me all the way down the track.”
Reminded that U.S. teammate Daniel Roberts was actually ahead at the first hurdle, Holloway said, “Who got to the finish line first? Thank you.”
Holloway, who upgraded from his Olympic silver in Tokyo, achieved his career Grand Slam — adding the title of Olympic champion to his three straight outdoor Worlds gold medals starting in 2019, two indoor world titles and the 2022 Diamond League crown.
The 26-year-old clocked 12.99 seconds, dipping below 13 seconds for the eleventh time to win the first U.S. gold in the event since 2012.
“I’m a fireman,” Holloway said. “Everybody in that heat has run something hot, but it’s my job to control it. It’s my job to put out everybody else’s flame, and I was able to do that today.”
Roberts placed 2nd in 13.09 after an eventful race in which he was spiked at the second hurdle — leaving three gashes on his left arm — hit four hurdles and dove at the finish line, tumbling across the track.
While Jamaica’s Rasheed Broadbell was given the same time, the photo finish showed Roberts ahead at 13.085 to Broadbell’s season best of 13.088. Although the U.S. hurdlers talked about a sweep, Freddie Crittenden placed 6th in 13.32.
Defending Olympic champ Hansle Parchment of Jamaica was last in 13.39.
Four days earlier, Crittenden made history as the first athlete to game track’s newly added repechage rounds. Having incurred a minor adductor injury a day before the first round, the man dubbed “Fast Freddie” in his prep days jogged through his heat in 18.27 to finish last. This relegated him to the second-chance repechage round, giving his sore thigh muscle 2 additional days of healing time.
The strategy worked and Crittenden won his repechage heat in 13.42 to advance to the semis.
Holloway won the 20th Olympic gold in the event for the U.S., which now has 59 medals in the 110s dating back to 1896.
In the previous 8 years, the only U.S. medal at the Olympics was Holloway’s silver in Tokyo. He said the Paris race was not about redemption.
“It’s three years ago,” said Holloway, who trains with Florida Gator coach Mike Holloway in Gainesville. “There’s nothing I…
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