The NCAA 110m hurdles semi-finals saw history made, as Ja'Kobe Tharp managed to become the first in 50 years to improve an adult world record at the student games.
The student games of the United States, the NCAA Championships kicked off with a bang on Wednesday, as history was immediately made in merely the heats of the 110m hurdles. A new world record definitely wasn't on the cards when the gun sounded out on heat number 2, but that's the beauty of athletics sometimes!
Student games across the world are no stranger to some incredible results, but adult world records are barely ever seen at this level. Wednesday at the NCAA brought a change to this in just the heats of the competition, as Auburn's
Ja'Kobe Tharp raced a mind-boggling time of 12,75 to smash the 110m hurdles world record.
The last world record in an NCAA Championships dates as far back as 50 years, and it took Tharp to improve his personal best by almost three tenths to achieve the monumental feat. Aries Meritt's 12,80 was placed firmly back in the history books, as Auburn's track star took the record all the way down to 12,75.
- I'm speechless. I knew I was in good form, since we've tried to time my peak this year for this exact competition. I was just focusing on my own performance. I felt that I could go under 13 seconds in good conditions, Tharp commented
in an interview with SEC sports..
Aged just 20, Tharp is the reigning USA champion, and the youngster also took gold in Peru's Lima at the u20 World Championship in 2024. Major finals and more glory at the adult level surely await later in his career, but he already managed a 6th place finish at last year's World Championships in Tokyo.
All eyes will be on one man on early hours of Saturday morning UK time, when the NCAA 110m hurdles final takes place. You can find all the results and schedule of the competition
via this link.
You can enjoy the new 110m hurdles world record by Ja'Kobe Tharp through the video below. The magical run begins at about 1:45 in the video if you're in a rush. The rest of the world will have it's chance to respond at the
Doha Diamond league next Friday, where the reigning 110m hurdles World Champion
Cordell Tinch will be looking to better his fellow American among others.
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