Ja’Kobe Tharp at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 (© Getty Images)
Semifinals: Friday 11 Sep, 20:21
Final: Friday 11 Sep, 21:49
Contenders:
Cordell Tinch (USA) 🌍
Ja'Kobe Tharp (USA) 💎
Jamal Britt (USA)
Trey Cunningham (USA)
Orlando Bennett (JAM)
Rachid Muratake (JPN)
Enrique Llopis (ESP)
Demario Prince (JAM)
Jason Joseph (SUI)
Just Kwaou-Mathey (FRA)
Shunsuke Izumiya (JPN)
Jakub Szymański (POL)
Jamar Marshall (USA)
Tyler Mason (JAM)
Bradley Franklin (USA)
Tatsuki Abe (JPN)
World lead: 12.75 Ja'Kobe Tharp (USA) Eugene, 10 Jun
2026 world list | world rankings
World record: 12.75 Ja'Kobe Tharp (USA) Eugene, 10 Jun 2026
world all-time list | world record progression
- Ja'Kobe Tharp lines up as the fastest man in history thanks to his 12.75 in Eugene
- Jamal Britt poses a strong challenge with five Diamond League victories to his name this year
- Cordell Tinch qualified as the world champion, ready to fight for another title
Ja'Kobe Tharp announced himself to the world during the NCAA Championships. Running 12.75 in the heats, the 20-year-old took 0.05 off the world 110m hurdles record set by Aries Merritt in 2012.
“It wasn’t part of the plan,” Tharp said. “I swear I didn’t mean to.”
He may not have had the world record in mind at that point, but the US athlete has since proven it was no fluke by dipping under 13 seconds another four times. Those performances include a 12.85 – the fifth-fastest mark of all time – at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Budapest, at the same venue that will host the Ultimate Championship. He also won his first Diamond League title in Brussels in 13.03.
But Tharp hasn’t had things all his own way this season and part of the thrill of the hurdles events is the jeopardy, with little margin for error.
Another three athletes have broken 13 seconds this season and two of them – Tharp’s compatriots Jamal Britt and Trey Cunningham – will be among his rivals in Budapest.
Britt clocked 12.86, a time that places him fifth on the world all-time list, to win at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene – one of his five Diamond League victories this year. He has also gone sub-13 seconds in three other races this season and finished second to Tharp in the Diamond League Final.
Cunningham, the 2022 world silver medallist and world indoor bronze medallist this year, is also in the form of his life this season and he ran a PB of 12.98 to win the Diamond League meeting in Rome. He was third behind Tharp and Britt in the Diamond League Final.
Their compatriot Cordell Tinch booked his place at the Ultimate by virtue of becoming the world champion in Tokyo last year. The 26-year-old, who also claimed the Diamond League title in 2025, won at the Doha Diamond League and the US Championships, the latter in a season’s best of 13.00.
Jamaica’s Orlando Bennett and Tyler Mason, respective silver and bronze medallists behind Tinch at last year’s World Championships, will want to challenge again this time.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
Title key: 🏅 Olympic champion, 🌍 world champion, 💎 Diamond League champion
