TOKYO − Jamaica's Hansle Parchment trumped fading world champion Grant Holloway to win the men's Olympic 110m hurdles gold today.
Parchment, a bronze medallist at the 2012 London Games, clocked 13.04 seconds, with Holloway taking silver in 13.09sec. Another Jamaican, Ronald Levy, claimed bronze (13.10).
Holloway burst out of his blocks in blazing sunshine at Tokyo's Olympic Stadium and built up a lead directly from the first hurdle.
The American looked completely in control through 60 metres, but then tied up, allowing a fast-charging Parchment a way back into the race.
The 31-year-old Jamaican made no mistake from lane seven, impressing over the final three hurdles and pushing for the line for the first global medal of his career.
"The greatest feeling," Parchment said when asked what being referred to as the Olympic champion sounded like.
"I've worked so hard. It's unbelievable that I caught that guy (Holloway). My coach reminded me to run through the line − and that's what I did."
Parchment added: "I don't think a lot of people expected me to win.
"I might have to sit for a bit and just absorb the moment, watch other races because there's always room for improvement."
Holloway defended his race tactics, saying he had only just missed out on Aries Merritt's world record of 12.80sec by one-hundredth of a second in June using the same methods.
"Everybody knows I'm going to get out strong," the 23-year-old said.
"Now it just comes to a point where I've got to finish strong. I did it once when I was two shaves off the world record so I know I can do it."
Holloway instead put down his last-gasp fade to "nerves".
"The big atmosphere got the best of me a little bit," he said, despite there being no fans in the 68,000-seater Olympic Stadium because of Covid-19 restrictions in the Japanese capital.
"But I'm young, I've got a lot of races under my belt, so I'll take this with a grain of salt, and I keep moving forward.
"This was not the outcome that I wanted but it enables me to say I'm an Olympic medallist."
Focus, Holloway said, would now turn to next year's world championships in Eugene, Oregon.
"I love the hurdles and I can't wait until next year for the world championships in my hometown," he said. "I think that's going to be really good for me." – AFP, August 5, 2021
