Grant Holloway (USA) starts at the ISTAF over the 110 meter hurdles Photo: picture alliance/ abaca
By Ulrike Krieger
After 200-meter world champion Noah Lyles (25), the second sprint superstar from the USA is now coming to the oldest athletics meeting in the world. Like Lyles, Grant Holloway (24) is a two-time world champion (2019 and 2022) – but over the 110 meter hurdles.
And this man has a very special gift: Nobody shoots out of the starting block as fast as Holloway.
Grant Holloway at the Diamond League Meeting in Monaco a few weeks ago Photo: picture alliance/ ZUMA Press Wire Photo: picture alliance / ZUMAPRESS.com
So it’s no wonder that he holds the world record in the 60-meter hurdles (7.29 seconds). The ISTAF meeting record of compatriot Aries Merritt (37) could shake on Sunday (from 1 p.m.). It ran a great 12.97 seconds in 2012. Holloway already this year: 12.99. With his personal best of 12.81 seconds, Holloway is the second-fastest man in history behind Merritt (12.80). The Ami announced before the season: “I want to win a medal every year until I retire.”
Berlin sport
Holloway is not only a starting rocket, but also a sports cannon: The Olympic silver medalist first played football (wide receiver), but instead of going to the NFL, he went to the university in Florida and became an athlete. At the ISTAF he could start in almost all disciplines, because at the age of 17 he already flew 2.16 meters in the high jump and 8.17 meters in the long jump.
But his love belongs to the hurdles: “I want to be in the history books, when they talk about the greatest hurdler of all time, that’s what I want to be.”