Ja’Kobe Tharp may dominate 110m hurdles for years
Track and field has a new starlet in youngster Ja’Kobe Tharp who has astonishingly broken the 110-metre hurdles world record at the American college championships in Oregon.
The Alabama athlete, 20, stormed to victory in the semi-finals of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) event in a breath taking time of 12.75 seconds.
It eclipses the previous record set by Aries Merritt in Brussels back in 2012 — and sees Tharp take 0.26 seconds off his previous personal best of 13.01.
Tharp looked genuinely shocked as he crossed the line, bouncing around in disbelief and joy. It was the first world record set at the NCAA championships in half a century.
A stunned Tharp told reporters: “I knew I had that in my legs. But it wasn’t on my bingo card before this meet, not at all.
“I was going pretty fast. The last three hurdles were kind of iffy. I was like, ‘Whoa, I’m coming up kind of fast.’
Tharp is a world champion at under-20 level, and reached the men’s 110m hurdles final at the Tokyo world championships last year, finishing sixth.
09 Aug, 2023
14 May, 2026
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