Despite being a former champion, it&rsquo;s fair to say that Danielle Williams went into the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 a little under the radar.
In a field featuring the Olympic champion, an in-form former world record-holder, the defending champion and world record-holder, and other fellow global medallists &ndash; and with a single win to her name this season &ndash; the 30-year-old Jamaican had not been among the leading contenders.
As Williams put it herself, she had been racing those rivals all year, &ldquo;and they have been kicking me left, right and centre&rdquo;.
She fought back in the National Athletics Centre on Thursday night.
Eight years on from her 100m hurdles win in Beijing &ndash; where she clocked a then PB of 12.57 to triumph &ndash; Williams repeated the feat, holding off Puerto Rico&rsquo;s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and USA&rsquo;s Kendra Harrison to win in a season&rsquo;s best of 12.43.
That&rsquo;s the fifth-fastest time of her career, behind the 12.32 PB she set in London in 2019.
Camacho-Quinn, who won the Olympic title in Tokyo and claimed bronze in Oregon last year, lined up for the final with 12 wins to her name, including from the heats and semifinals in Budapest.
Harrison, the former world record-holder who claimed world silver in 2019 and Olympic silver in Tokyo, had finished in the top two in each of her 12 races this season, also including wins in the earlier rounds in Budapest. She clocked 12.24 &ndash; the fourth-fastest time in history &ndash; to win her heat.
Williams, meanwhile, finished third in her heat and third again in her semifinal, advancing to the final on time.
Taking to her blocks, she lined up in lane two, to the left of USA&rsquo;s Nia Ali, the 2019 world champion who started at the World Championships as the world leader with 12.30. Williams got a great start, as did Bahamian Devynne Charlton, who claimed world indoor silver last year. But in her rush to the first barrier, Charlton knocked it, as did Ali.
Ali wasn&rsquo;t able to recover and that gave Williams even more space on the far side. She ran her own race, narrowly holding off the chase from Camacho-Quinn in lane seven and Harrison in lane four. After crossing the finish line they faced a nervous wait while the winner was confirmed, and as Williams saw her name flash up first, she screamed and sprinted away in celebration.
Camacho-Quinn went one better than her Oregon bronze, securing silver in 12.44, while Harrison&rsquo;s bronze medal-winning time was 12.46.
Charlton, who set a national record of 12.44 in the heats, recovered from clattering the first hurdle to finish fourth in 12.52, while Jamaica&rsquo;s 21-year-old NCAA champion Ackera Nugent was fifth (12.61), Nigeria&rsquo;s Tobi Amusan sixth (12.62), Switzerland&rsquo;s Ditaji Kambundji seventh (12.70) and Ali eighth (12.78).
&ldquo;I knew it was going to be tough. I came out here knowing that I could win, but I would have to give everything I had. I still don't believe I won against such a stellar field,&rdquo; said Williams.
&ldquo;My starts have always been good. The finish is usually my problem, but I spoke to my sister yesterday and she said I need to make sure to race over all the hurdles because I wasn't going flat out through all of them. Today, I was determined to take it all the way.
&ldquo;When I won in 2015 it was unbelievable, but this took a lot of hard work, a lot of years of toil and injuries, and losing my confidence and battling to get back to this stage. It's awesome. Jamaica is a proud country and we love to win. I love to win.&rdquo;
On day six of the championships, Williams&rsquo; gold was the first for Jamaica in Budapest and around 15 minutes later another arrived thanks to Antonio Watson&rsquo;s 400m win.
Camacho-Quinn was satisfied with her silver. &ldquo;I'm not upset at all,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;After I won a bronze at the last World Championships, now I have a silver. If I add my Olympic gold medal, I have the whole collection to be proud of.&rdquo;
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center; width: 100%;" colspan="3">WOMEN'S 100m HURDLES MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Danielle Williams 🇯🇲 JAM</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">12.43</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Jasmine Camacho-Quinn 🇵🇷 PUR</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">12.44</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Kendra Harrison 🇺🇸 USA</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">12.46</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left; width: 100%;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-championships/budapest23/results/women/100-metres-hurdles/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Want to keep up to date during the World Championships with real-time results and statistics, the latest highlights and exclusive competitions? Then join <a href="https://worldathletics.org/inside-track" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Inside Track</a> today for free!

World Athletics Championships, Budapest 2023

Despite being a former champion, it’s fair to say that Danielle Williams went into the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 a little under the radar

Williams regains 100m hurdles crown to get Jamaica's first gold in Budapest

Nothing could be more natural for a hurdler than to expect a career offering a series of challenges.
Such has certainly been the case for Nia Ali and Anna Cockrell, who sat alongside each other in a press conference on the eve of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23.
In June last year, with a wild card to defend her 100m hurdles title at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, Ali said that everything was &ldquo;falling into place&rdquo; after she had returned to training following the birth of her third child.
But she was the one who took a fall when the championships began as, after establishing an early lead, she clipped the ninth hurdle in her heat and failed to clear the 10th before being officially disqualified.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/64e33884b43ffa996b40ad87.jpg" alt="Nia Ali falls at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22" />
Nia Ali falls at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 (&copy; Getty Images)
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A year on, Ali, now 34, has arrived in Budapest as the US champion &ndash; and with a renewed sense of her own competitive possibilities balanced with a sensible caution about the strength of the field that has been assembled.
After hearing for the first time the late news that Tobi Amusan will be defending her title, Ali made the point that the Nigerian was only one of several serious contenders.
&ldquo;Good for her &ndash; I will see her at the starting line. I&rsquo;m looking forward to some very fast racing, and there are more than just Tobi. The title could go to anybody in the final.&rdquo;
By this point in her career, Ali knows all about controlling the controllables. But controlling three young children is a different matter.
Following her victory at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, Ali was joined on the track by her then four-year-old son Titus and one-year-old daughter Yuri, and she and her partner Andre De Grasse have since welcomed their son Kenzo into the world.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/0e62e96e-c3e9-427f-b095-3d61fe8d919f.jpg" alt="All smiles! Nia Ali takes the 100m hurdles title at the IAAF World Championships Doha 2019" />
All smiles! Nia Ali takes the 100m hurdles title at the IAAF World Championships Doha 2019 (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
Reflecting upon the challenge of combining her roles as athlete and mother to two boys and a girl, Ali said: &ldquo;They co-exist but they don&rsquo;t exist in the same place.
&ldquo;My life is about being able to compartmentalise and to be where I am in that moment.
&ldquo;When I&rsquo;m at home, I don&rsquo;t think about the track, I have a clear space with my children.
&ldquo;And when I&rsquo;m on the track I give it my 100% focus, while my children are focused on their schooling.
&ldquo;There are heavy obligations, but I have learned to manage it.
&ldquo;My children keep me very humble. They are straight shooters! They watch my races on TV and if I don&rsquo;t win, they tell me all about it.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like: &lsquo;You fell last time &ndash; I thought you were going to go out there and win!&rsquo;
&ldquo;But when I come home from training, they say how proud they are. I think they understand the competitive nature.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited that they are going to be here in Budapest. They&rsquo;re getting their hair done, getting their outfits, putting the pressure on me, waiting for their moments!&rdquo;
Like Ali, Cockrell also experienced the downside of life in her last outing at a global championships.
After earning a place at the Tokyo Olympics by finishing third in the 400m hurdles at the US Trials in a personal best of 53.70, she followed through in Japan by reaching the final, where she finished seventh, only to be later disqualified after officials discovered she had made a lane violation.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/64e3375db43ffa996b40ad84.jpg" alt="Anna Cockrell in action at the Tokyo Olympic Games" />
Anna Cockrell in action at the Tokyo Olympic Games (&copy; Getty Images)
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This summer Cockrell has again risen to the challenge at the US Trials, securing her place by finishing third &ndash; this time behind Shamier Little and 2016 Olympic and 2019 world champion Dalilah Muhammad.
The 25-year-old from San Ramon, California, who won the world U20 400m hurdles title in 2016 and added Pan American Games silver in 2019, is also an accomplished performer in the shorter hurdles event.
&ldquo;I trained over 100m hurdles this year,&rdquo; said Cockerell, who has a PB of 12.54, set en route to a double hurdles victory at the 2021 NCAA Championships. &ldquo;I love it. I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s something I will ever let go of, even if I do eventually choose to focus on the 400m hurdles.
&ldquo;I definitely want to double in the future. Both events are unbelievably competitive, but when the timing is right, I am going to be there. It&rsquo;s something I look forward to.&rdquo;
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics

Nothing could be more natural for a hurdler than to expect a career offering a series of challenges.

Hurdlers Ali and Cockrell keen to make amends in Budapest

<h2>Women's 100m hurdles</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-championships/budapest23/timetable/bydiscipline/women/100-metres-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/100mh/women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/100-metres-hurdles/outdoor/women/senior/2023?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2023 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/hurdles/100-metres-hurdles/outdoor/women/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/hurdles/100-metres-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
The leading contenders in the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles do not shy away from racing each other, and two of the current world&rsquo;s top three &ndash; Nia Ali and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn &ndash; have clashed 17 times since the start of the 2022 season. The World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 gives them the chance to go head-to-head again, as USA&rsquo;s Ali looks to regain the title she won in 2019 and Puerto Rico&rsquo;s Camacho-Quinn goes for another global gold to add to the Olympic crown she claimed in Tokyo.
Ali is the world leader with the 12.30 PB she achieved to win in Monaco on 21 July, the 34-year-old improving her previous best set when winning her world title in Doha by 0.04. That was one of the occasions where she wasn&rsquo;t up against Camacho-Quinn, however, and it&rsquo;s the Puerto Rican who leads their career head-to-head tally, having got the upper hand in each of their races.
With Ali in the form of her life, and Camacho-Quinn just 0.01 behind her on this season&rsquo;s top list, a brilliant battle could be in store. The competition in Monaco was Ali&rsquo;s first ever Diamond League win in a career that features 2016 Olympic silver and two world indoor 60m hurdles titles alongside her 2019 world gold. Camacho-Quinn, meanwhile, has multiple Diamond League wins to her name and has triumphed in Doha and Lausanne as part of an unbeaten season of 10 races so far. In addition to her Olympic title, the 26-year-old claimed world bronze in Oregon last year and set her PB of 12.26 in the semifinals of the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62b3486e814c350f370e83ee.jpg" alt="Nia Ali on her way to winning the 100m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019" />
Nia Ali on her way to winning the 100m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
Kendra Harrison will be looking to deny them both. The former world record-holder, who clocked 12.20 in London in 2016, is tied with Camacho-Quinn at No.2 on this season&rsquo;s top list with the 12.31 she ran to finish runner-up to Ali in Monaco. She was also second to Ali at the US Championships and has finished in the top two in each of her 10 races this season. Her aim will be to continue that pattern, but go one better than the silver medals she earned at the 2019 World Championships, behind Ali, and Tokyo Olympics, behind Camacho-Quinn.
Jamaican athletes were third in both of those global finals &ndash; Megan Tapper getting bronze in Tokyo and Danielle Williams taking a place on the podium in Doha &ndash; and they both compete again, joined by rising talent Ackera Nugent, the 21-year-old NCAA champion, who won world U20 gold in 2021. Joining Ali and Harrison on the US team is Masai Russell, who finished second to Nugent in the NCAA final, the pair clocking respective wind-assisted times of 12.25 and 12.32.
Ditaji Kambundji has also dipped under 12.50 this year, running a Swiss record of 12.47 in Bern at the start of this month. She finished third behind Poland&rsquo;s Pia Skrzyszowska and Hungary&rsquo;s Luca Kozak at the European Championships last year and both of those athletes are entered, Skrzyszowska as she continues her comeback after injury and Kozak, who is a home star.
Others looking to make an impact will be France&rsquo;s Cyrena Samba-Mayela and Bahamian Devynne Charlton, who were top two at last year&rsquo;s World Indoor Championships, plus Dutch record-holder Nadine Visser and Ireland&rsquo;s Sarah Lavin.
Nigeria&rsquo;s Tobi Amusan, who won the world title last year in Oregon, is also among the entries but her participation is pending a decision from the Athletics Integrity Unit, following her anti-doping suspension for three whereabouts failures.
&nbsp;
<h2>Men's 110m hurdles</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-championships/budapest23/timetable/bydiscipline/men/110-metres-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/110mh/men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/110-metres-hurdles/outdoor/men/senior/2023?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2023 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/hurdles/110-metres-hurdles/outdoor/men/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/hurdles/110-metres-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
Grant Holloway has the chance to become the second athlete after his US compatriot Greg Foster to claim three consecutive world 110m hurdles titles. Forty years on from Foster&rsquo;s first win at the inaugural World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Holloway will hope to mark the anniversary year by gaining a 12th gold medal for his nation in the event.
The 25-year-old certainly seems in shape to do so, having lost just once this year &ndash; to Jamaica&rsquo;s Rasheed Broadbell at the Rabat Diamond League meeting on 28 May. Holloway rebounded with wins in Florence and Paris, where he clocked his season&rsquo;s best of 12.98, and his most recent performance is a 13.01 win in London on 23 July. Not only will he be looking to add another global title to his two world gold medals, but also to an Olympic silver claimed in Tokyo and world indoor 60m hurdles gold won in Belgrade last year.
It is Broadbell who heads this season&rsquo;s top list, thanks to the 12.94 PB he set to win the Jamaican title. That was the second time he has dipped under 13 seconds &ndash; the first was when winning the Lausanne Diamond League last year in 12.99.
The 23-year-old, who won the Commonwealth Games title in Birmingham last year, now sits joint 14th on the world all-time list, alongside his compatriot Hansle Parchment, who beat Holloway to the Olympic title in Tokyo.
Both athletes return to World Championships action in Budapest. Broadbell made it to the semifinals in Oregon last year, while Parchment made it to the final but was unable to race, having injured himself while warming up.
As well as his Olympic title, Parchment has world silver from 2015 and Olympic bronze from 2012 to his name. They are joined on the Jamaican team by Orlando Bennett, the 2018 world U20 silver medallist.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/64d9f0e37c76b129c3f73ddc.jpg" alt="Rasheed Broadbell in action in Oregon" />
Rasheed Broadbell in action in Oregon (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
Sitting between Broadbell and Holloway on this season&rsquo;s top list is Cordell Tinch, who secured his first sub-13.00 run by clocking 12.96 at the Arkansas Grand Prix on 23 June. The 23-year-old &ndash; who started the season with a PB of 13.63 from 2019 to his name following a few years away from the sport &ndash; has also improved his lifetime bests in the high jump and long jump in 2023, to 2.21m and 8.16m, respectively. He finished second to Daniel Roberts at the US Championships and alongside that trio, the US team also includes Freddie Crittenden.
Shunsuke Izumiya is another athlete in PB form in 2023, having improved the Japanese record to 13.04 in Osaka at the start of June. The 2018 world U20 bronze medallist won at the Lausanne Diamond League and was second to Holloway in London.
Wilhem Belocian and Just Kwaou-Mathey have also dipped under 13.10 this season, respectively clocking PBs of 13.07 and 13.09. They will be joined on the French team by Sasha Zhoya, the 2021 world U20 champion who won the French title in a wind-assisted (2.3m/s) 13.01. Jason Joseph has improved to a Swiss record of 13.10 this season.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Expected highlights in the women's 100m hurdles and men's 110m hurdles

WCH Budapest 23 preview: 100m and 110m hurdles

A look back at the key moments of 2022 in the hurdles and steeplechase

2022 review: hurdles and steeplechase

Lacena Golding-Clarke is the third guest of the World Athletics Championships coach series of the gender leadership podcast.
These podcasts are presented by athlete and Athletics Ireland Women in Sport manager Lilly-Ann O'Hora and Vicky Huyton, coach and founder of the Female Coaching Network, as they interview a number of coaches involved with the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, either as a team coach or a personal coach. 
<iframe style="background-color: transparent; display: block; padding: 0; width: 100%; max-width: 700px;" title="Audioboom player" src="https://embeds.audioboom.com/posts/8177363/embed/v4" width="100%" height="300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" sandbox="allow-downloads allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
 Golding-Clarke is a former sprint hurdler who represented Jamaica at three Olympic Games, five World Championships and multiple Commonwealth Games, notably winning 100m hurdles gold in Manchester in 2002.
She retired in 2010 after reaching her sixth consecutive 60m hurdles final at the World Indoor Championships and more recently is known as the coach of world 100m hurdles record-holder Tobi Amusan, who won the world title in Oregon in a wind-assisted 12.06 after breaking the world record with 12.12 in the semifinals.
Golding-Clarke watched Amusan&rsquo;s world record performance alongside her fellow coach Joanna Hayes in Oregon, and recalls looking at her watch and asking: &ldquo;Is this the world record, or not?&rdquo; But her initial thoughts were quickly confirmed when she saw her athlete screaming with joy.
Golding-Clarke felt it was something that had been brewing for a while.
&ldquo;In 2019, before we travelled to Doha (for the World Championships), I sort of had an inclination that she may come close, but that she might run in the 12.2s," she said.
&ldquo;In 2020, during the pandemic, we trained so hard. I had a feeling then that she could, but I did not expect that the world record could be broken by such a time. I was thinking she could go 12.19 or 12.18, but I am just happy that I was a part of it. Hoping for a world record every year, but this year it all just happened at once.&rdquo; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/63541fe11e133ca97b48c027.jpg" alt="Coach Lacena Golding-Clarke with world 100m hurdles record-holder Tobi Amusan" />
Coach Lacena Golding-Clarke with world 100m hurdles record-holder Tobi Amusan (&copy; Lacena Golding-Clarke)
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Nigeria&rsquo;s Amusan has been under the watchful eye of Golding-Clarke since 2016 and her days at the University of Texas at El Paso, where Golding-Clarke helped to take her from a 13.11 athlete to a 12.12 athlete.
Initially, &ldquo;she had it in her&rdquo; but it was the technical work that needed attention, so the two slowly built Amusan&rsquo;s general strength, followed by her mental focus, to ensure she was equipped to overcome all 10 barriers. The focus for 2022 was to work on speed, to be able to hold the hurdle rhythm all the way through to the finish line.
In 2002, Golding-Clarke won at the Commonwealth Games and found herself nervous at this year&rsquo;s edition in Birmingham, questioning how Amusan&rsquo;s body would hold up after such an amazing time in Oregon.
&ldquo;By the grace of God, she won, but it was all confidence,&rdquo; says Golding-Clarke. &ldquo;It was Eugene that took her through the rest of the season because she said: 'I did it before, I can do it again!&rsquo; I am so proud of how she competed this year. Her season speaks for itself.&rdquo;
Golding-Clarke also now holds a new role as assistant coach for the women's sprints and hurdles programme at Auburn University. Juggling her collegiate athletes with her professional group of athletes, she mentions there are certain periods that &ldquo;it can be extremely tiring and I can be very drained at times, but still I have to be mentally tough.&rdquo;
Her life as an athlete has taught her the fundamental values, to work hard but also be able to sustain her dual roles to manage her own health and wellbeing.
The foundation of Golding-Clarke and Amusan&rsquo;s success has been built on establishing and maintaining a relationship of trust, while their consistent enthusiasm and devotion to the process has allowed Amusan&rsquo;s potential to flourish. When discussing some of her most enjoyable coaching moments, Golding-Clarke says: &ldquo;The most joy for me is to have a family orientated time during our practices. Most of my athletes, particularly in the university scene, our international student athletes and I, have to make a family out of them, for them to feel at home, for them to be the best they want to be. I feel my best aspect is how I care for them, and eventually they become who they want to be.&rdquo; 
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<h2>Empowering women in athletics</h2>
The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/empoweringwomeninathletics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Empowering Women in Athletics</a> group on Facebook is an extension of the work of the Gender Leadership Taskforce, offering a community for women in athletics and a place where they can share stories and experiences as well as ideas and projects.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/empoweringwomeninathletics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Find out more and join the discussion on Facebook</a> 
</div>
 For aspiring young hurdlers, Golding-Clarke says: &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t have to be overly fast to be one of the greatest hurdlers. It comes with the rhythm you have and the technique, how sound your technique is. You have to be able to hold that pattern for 10 barriers. For me, it&rsquo;s more rhythm than speed.&rdquo;
So how does Golding-Clarke enhance her own coaching and development? &ldquo;I am still learning as I go,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I learn from coach Beverly Kearney, I still am learning from coach Francis from Jamaica, they are the people that I can always call, &lsquo;these are the things I am stuck on, what do you think? Could you help me pass through this?&rsquo; I can always go to them.
"I know for a fact people need mentors, so even though I have a world record-holder, I still need to be mentored.&rdquo;

World and Olympic finalist Lacena Golding-Clarke, now coach to 100m hurdles world record-holder Tobi Amusan, is the latest to feature in the podcast series

Gender leadership podcast: Lacena Golding-Clarke

More than 1500 athletes from 145 teams are set to compete at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 between 1-6 August.
Here we take a look at the women's and men's hurdles and steeplechase events at the Pascual Guerrero Olympic Stadium. 
<h2>Women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles</h2>
She may be the second youngest in the field, but there&rsquo;s every chance that when the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles reaches its climax, Jamaica&rsquo;s Kerrica Hill will be first across the line. The 17-year-old was an ultra-impressive winner of the Jamaican U20 title in 12.98 (1.5m/s) last month and, with 11.16 100m flat speed in her armoury, she will be tough to stop if getting things right technically. She will be backed up by teammate Alexis James, who clocked a PB of 13.13 last month to make the team for Cali.
The US challenge will be led by Jalaysiya Smith, who ran her PB of 13.05 (0.5m/s) in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships and who went on to win the US U20 title last month in 13.21. She will be joined by teammate Eddiyah Frye, who clocked 13.26 to finish second to Smith and make the team for Cali last month. Germany&rsquo;s Hawa Jalloh has also been in sparkling form of late, clocking a PB of 13.23 to win her national U20 title last earlier this month and she should also feature.
With next year&rsquo;s World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 starting to loom on the horizon, Hungary could well have a teenage hurdler competing on home turf there, given the progress of Anna Toth, who clocked a national U20 record of 13.23 (0.5m/s) last month and will take her shot at the world&rsquo;s best teenagers in Cali. The British charge will be led by Marli Jessop, who has a best of 13.38 this year. Others to have gone below 13.50 this season are Spain&rsquo;s Paula Blanquer, Britain&rsquo;s Mia McIntosh, Germany&rsquo;s Naomi Krebs and Czech Republic&rsquo;s Ester Bendova. 
<h2>Men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles</h2>
Dutch teenager Matthew Sophia walked away from last year&rsquo;s European U20 Championships with two silver medals &ndash; in the 110m hurdles and 4x100m relay &ndash; but the 18-year-old looks to have a great chance of going one better in Cali if he shows up in the same form he showed earlier this year. The Rotterdam Atletiek athlete tops the world U20 lists via his Dutch U20 record of 13.23 (-0.4m/s) in March, though he has raced little since winning the Carifta Games title in Jamaica in mid-April in 13.74.
The US challenge will be led by national U20 champion Malik Mixon, who won that title with a wind-assisted time of 13.26 (2.6m/s) last month. He will be joined in Cali by teammate TJ Caldwell, who clocked 13.34 at the US U20 Championships and who has run a wind-legal best of 13.40 this year. Czech Republic&rsquo;s Stepan Schubert should also be a big threat, having clocked 13.40 to win his national U20 title last month. Jamaica&rsquo;s Dishaun Lamb, South Africa&rsquo;s Denmar Jacobs and Bahamas&rsquo; Antoine Andrews have all run well below 13.50 this year and should all be in the hunt for a spot in the final. 
<h2>Women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles</h2>
Italy&rsquo;s Alessia Seramondi is the quickest athlete among the 48 entries in the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, lowering her PB to 57.29 when winning her national U20 title in 57.29 in Rieti. US U20 champion Akala Garrett is another sure to be in the hunt for medals. She clocked a world U18 lead of 57.46 when winning the US high school title in Eugene last month. She will be backed up by teammate Michaela Rose, the LSU student who juggles the 400m hurdles, where she has a best of 57.62, with the 800m, where she has a best of 2:02.49.
Japan has a strong contender in Moe Matsuoka, the 19-year-old who finished third at her national senior championships last month in 57.57. &nbsp;Jamaica&rsquo;s Oneika McAnnuff has run 57.68 this season and could also be in the medal shake-up, along with Czech Republic&rsquo;s Ester Bendova (57.90) and Italy&rsquo;s Ludovica Cavo (57.94). The Polish duo of Wiktoria Oko and Aleksandra Wolczak should also go close &ndash; both have run 58.03 this year. 
<h2>Men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles</h2>
Turkey&rsquo;s Berke Akcam took gold in this event at the last edition of the World U20 Championships in Nairobi, and his nation has a strong change of retaining that title this year through Ismail Nezir, who lowered his PB to 49.59 last month at the Mediterranean Games. Just one athlete in the field has gone quicker than that &ndash; Roshawn Clarke of Jamaica, who set his PB of 49.39 when winning his national U20 title in Kingston last month, while his teammate Antonio Forbes shouldn&rsquo;t be far away given he has run 50.48 this year.
Slovenia&rsquo;s Matic Ian Gucek finished fifth in last year&rsquo;s world U20 final and the 18-year-old will be looking to get on the podium here, which he looks capable of doing after his national U20 record of 49.72 to win the Slovenian senior title last month.
Yeral Nunez of Dominican Republic is another who has been in fine form, setting a national U20 record of 50.07 last month. The Asian challenge is led by Japan&rsquo;s Daiki Ogawa, who has run 50.50 this year, and he will be backed up by compatriot Sojiro Moritaka, who has run 50.71. Qatar&rsquo;s Ismail Doudai Abakar is another worthy of respect &ndash; a 50.62 athlete this season. 
<h2>Women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase</h2>
Ethiopia&rsquo;s rise in the steeplechase has been moving at a swift pace in recent years and they have a strong contender for the world U20 champion in Sembo Almayew. The 17-year-old has been in sparkling form this season, finishing second at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Paris in 9:09.19 last month before finishing fifth in her heat at the World Championships in Oregon. She will be joined in Cali by Meseret Yeshaneh, who has a best of 9:33.34.
Kenya, unsurprisingly, will likely provide the stiffest opposition in the event they historically ruled like no other. Their challenge will be led by Faith Cherotich, the 18-year-old who won bronze at the last edition of these championships in Nairobi and who clocked a noteworthy 9:12.04 at altitude in the Kenyan capital back in May. She will be joined in Cali by teammate Pamela Kosgei, who has run 9:54.20 this year.
The European challenge will be led by Spain&rsquo;s Marta Serrano, who was sixth in the last world U20 final in Nairobi and who lowered her PB to 9:48.64 last month.
Morocco&rsquo;s Khadija Ennasri has run 10:00.49 this year, while Tunisia&rsquo;s Rihab Dhahri has run 10:03.15. Peru&rsquo;s Veronica Huacasi, Hungary&rsquo;s Greta Varga and Germany&rsquo;s Carolin Hinrichs have all run below 10:15 and will be a targeting a place in the final at the very least.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
<h2>Men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase</h2>
Morocco has the current world and Olympic champion in the men&rsquo;s steeplechase in Soufiane El Bakkali, and in Salaheddine Ben Yazide the nation has an athlete who could one day follow in his footsteps. The 19-year-old tops the world U20 lists with the 8:19.63 he ran at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Rabat back in June and Yazide gained some top-level experience at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 earlier this month, finishing 13th in the heats. Ethiopia&rsquo;s Samuel Firewu is just behind him on the world U20 lists via the 8:19.82 he ran in Ostrava back in May and he backed that up with a fifth-place finish at the African Championships last month. He will be joined by compatriot Samuel Duguna, who has a best of 8:27.40 this season.
Kenya has long proven tough to stop in the hunt for steeplechase medals and their challenge will be led in Cali by Emmanuel Wafula, who has run 8:42.25 this season, and Haron Kibet, who has run 8:43.82.
Uganda has a pair of strong entrants in Elphas Toroitich Ndiwa and Leonard Chemutai, who have run 8:37.3 and 8:40.6 respectively this year, while the US challenge is led by Bryce Lentz who has run 8:39.73. Others to look out for include Japanese duo Ryotaro Onuma and Asahi Kuroda, along with Algeria&rsquo;s Abderrahmane Daoud &ndash; all three have all dipped below 8:50 this year.&nbsp;
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

World Athletics U20 Championships

A look at the 100m hurdles, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles and 3000m steeplechase

WU20 Cali 22 preview: hurdles and steeplechase

The new world champion and world record-holder in the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles only got into hurdling through a quirk of fate.
Tobi Amusan started out as a sprinter and long jumper as a youngster in her native Nigeria.&nbsp;&nbsp;
At 13, she turned up to compete in a local athletics meet, only to find that just one event remained on the programme: the hurdles.
Amusan&rsquo;s coach encouraged her to enter. She ended up winning the race and the rest, as they say, is history.
The switch to the sprint hurdles paid off in sensational fashion on Sunday (24) when the 25-year-old Amusan smashed the world record, clocking 12.12 in the semi-finals at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22. She shaved 0.08 off the previous mark set by Kendra Harrison of the US in 2016.
Less than two hours later, Amusan came back for the final and ran another spectacular race to secure her first global gold medal and the first ever for Nigeria at a World Championships.
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62de919624161e6c1159d964.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
Amusan was clocked in 12.06, but the time won&rsquo;t be recognised as a world record due to a tail wind of +2.5 m/s.
After fourth-place finishes at the 2019 World Championships in Doha and last year&rsquo;s Tokyo Olympics, Amusan finally made it &ndash; not just onto the podium, but to the top of the medal stand.
&ldquo;I was the &lsquo;almost girl&rsquo;,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I got fourth, fourth, fourth. Now I finally did it.&rdquo;
And with a world record for good measure.
&ldquo;The goal was to come out and to win this gold,&rdquo; Amusan said. &ldquo;I just did it. Honestly, I believe in my abilities but I was not expecting a world record at these championships. You know, the goal is always just to execute well and get the win. So the world record is a bonus. I knew I had it in me but I could not believe it when I saw it on the screen after the semis. But it was just a matter of time.&rdquo;
Looking back on how she made it here, Amusan said: &ldquo;It has been a long journey.&rdquo;
Born in the town of Ijebu Ode in the western Nigerian state of Ogun, Amusan gradually made the transition to hurdles as a teenager.&nbsp;
She continued competing in sprints and long jump but managed to squeeze in one hurdles session a week. She put cones and tires on the track to jump over because there were no hurdles in her town.&nbsp;
When she was replaced as a member of Nigeria&rsquo;s 4x100m relay squad at the trials for the 2014 African Youth Games, she figured she had nothing to lose and entered the hurdles. She won that and went on to earn silver at the African Youth Games in Botswana.
Then followed a trip to Ethiopia in 2015, where she won African U20 gold, followed by a breakthrough victory at the All-African Games in Brazzaville, Congo.
&ldquo;It was one of the biggest milestones of my career; winning that championship set me up for who I am today,&rdquo; she said.
There was no looking back; she was now a full-time hurdler.
In 2016, Amusan received a scholarship to attend the University of Texas, El Paso, where hard training brought her personal best down from 13.10 to 12.83.
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62de905524161e6c1159d95e.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
At UTEP, she worked with new coach Lacena Golding-Clarke, a three-time Olympian from Jamacia and the 2002 Commonwealth Games 100m hurdles champion.&nbsp;
There were setbacks along the way, of course. At the U20 world championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland in 2016, Amusan struggled with her technique and finished in fifth place. She was so devastated that she thought about quitting the sport.
But she regrouped and, after reaching the semi-finals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Amusan went unbeaten in the 2017 outdoor US collegiate season and won the NCAA title in a PB of 12.57.
She went into the 2017 World Championships in London as the season&rsquo;s fourth-fastest hurdler, but cramped up in the cold conditions and failed to make the final.&nbsp;
&ldquo;After London,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I learned that the fact that I was in the mix, knowing I was capable of doing stuff at this age &ndash; I was just 20 &ndash; and being ranked in the top eight makes me confident that when I get my technique right, my speed right, and get a bit stronger, I&rsquo;ll be fine.&rdquo;
Indeed.
Amusan turned pro at the end of that year and went on to win gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, at the age of 20. She also triumphed at the African Championships later that year.
In 2019, she finished just 0.02 shy of a bronze in Doha. Last year, she came 0.05 from a medal at the delayed Tokyo Games.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there is a track and field event which can teach humility quite like the sprint hurdles,&rdquo; Amusan said. &ldquo;You can be the fastest in the field but one mistake can spell the end for your race. A hurdler should never go into any race with any level of complacency or arrogance. It teaches you to be humble.&rdquo;
For now, at least, Amusan can afford to be a little less humble.
After all, she&rsquo;s simply the fastest of all time and the best in the world.&nbsp;
Not bad for someone who became a hurdler by chance.&nbsp;
Steve Wilson for World Athletics

World Athletics Championships, Oregon 2022

Tobi Amusan: the accidental hurdler who became the world record-holder and 2022 world champion.

Amusan: the accidental hurdler who became the world record-holder

As Tobi Amusan crossed the finish line in the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles final on Sunday (24) at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, she looked shocked.
Her time popped up on the clock at 12.06 &ndash; 0.06 faster than the world record* time she had set less than two hours prior in the first heat of the semifinals.
Her attention flipped to the wind-gauge, which read 2.5m/s, and she realised her time in the final would not count as a world record because it was not wind legal.
However, Amusan was still delighted. She had already set the world record, 12.12 (0.9m/s), and she followed up with her first World Championships gold.
&ldquo;The goal was to come out and to win this gold. I just did it,&rdquo; said the Nigerian. &ldquo;Honestly, I believe in my abilities, but I was not expecting a world record at these championships.&rdquo;
Hence the look of utter surprise.
Three years ago, Amusan finished fourth at the World Championships in Doha. Her form only improved from there, and she posted a personal best of 12.41 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Paris in June before traveling to Eugene for the World Championships. Here her times began to get faster.
She topped that PB by .01 in the qualifying rounds on Saturday, breaking the African record in the process, before breaking the world record in the semifinal and running the wind-aided 12.06 in the final.
In the final, Amusan accelerated ahead of the field after clearing the sixth hurdle. She held off Jamaica&rsquo;s Britany Anderson and Puerto Rico&rsquo;s Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, both of whom were officially timed at 12.23 but separated in a photo finish by five thousandths of a second.
Before coming to the World Championships, Anderson won her first Jamaican title with a PB of 12.45. She then improved on that time in the semifinal as she ran a national record of 12.31.
&ldquo;In the middle it was not the best because I kept hitting the hurdles, but thank God I came full through with the silver medal,&rdquo; Anderson said. &ldquo;I am just taking it step by step, and I&rsquo;ll learn from this experience. It is overwhelming to get this experience from the Olympics and now to be a part of this race.&rdquo;
Camacho-Quinn has enjoyed a steady stream of success in recent years in the form of three NCAA titles and a string of victories on the international circuit. She won the Olympic title last year in 12.37, having broken the Games record with 12.26 in the semifinals.
However, the World Championships was a stage she had not yet experienced.
&ldquo;I got nervous, to be honest,&rdquo; Camacho-Quinn said. &ldquo;It kind of showed on my face, but I am just glad to come out here. I hit the last hurdle, but I ended up with a medal and I&rsquo;ll take it.&rdquo;
Former world record-holder Keni Harrison, who clocked 12.27 to finish behind Amusan in the semifinals, was in contention in the first half of the final but then faded and jogged over the line in last place. She was later disqualified for knocking down a hurdle with her hands.
After watching her world record fall in the semifinals, she flashed a wide grin and embraced Amusan.
Alia Armstrong, who won the NCAA title at Hayward Field earlier this summer, returned to Eugene for her first World Championships and finished just off the podium in fourth place in a wind-aided 12.31. Armstrong also ran a personal best of 12.43 to win the second heat of the semifinals.
&ldquo;Coming into this race, I knew I could win,&rdquo; Armstrong said. &ldquo;Even though some can run 12.12, I can run 12.0. It doesn't matter who you are up against, you can do all things.&rdquo;
After competing as the youngest woman in the field, Armstrong will return to her final year at Louisiana State University.
The entire final was a speedy one. To put that in context, Danielle Williams&rsquo; sixth-place finish of 12.44 was faster than the gold-medal time at the World Championships in 1991, 1995, 2003, 2005, 2015 and 2017.
&ldquo;Last year, after the Olympics, I said that hurdles is evolving,&rdquo; Camacho-Quinn said. &ldquo;So I feel like, from this point on, it is only going to be faster. We did pretty good. There were a lot of PRs out there today. I think we had the best event of the whole world champs. Just because of the times we put on, and I am very thankful.&rdquo;
Aaron Heisen for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">WOMEN'S 100m HURDLES MEDALLISTS (2.5m/s)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Tobi Amusan 🇳🇬 NGR</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">12.06w</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Britany Anderson 🇯🇲 JAM</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">12.23w</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Jasmine Camacho-Quinn 🇵🇷 PUR</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">12.23w</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-championships/oregon22/results/women/100-metres-hurdles/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Women's 100m hurdles report

Amusan wins world 100m hurdles title after breaking world record in semis

<h2>Women's 100m hurdles</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-championships/oregon22/timetable/bydiscipline/women/100-metres-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/100mh/women?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2022-06-26&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/100-metres-hurdles/outdoor/women/senior/2022?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/hurdles/100-metres-hurdles/outdoor/women/senior?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2022-07-06" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/hurdles/100-metres-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn owns the Olympic gold medal. Kendra Harrison holds the world record. What neither has is a world outdoor title.
That could easily change at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 when both chase victory in the 100m hurdles, an event that is loaded with top performers and contenders and shapes up as one of the meet&rsquo;s must-see competitions.
Camacho-Quinn has been in top form all season after capturing the Olympic title in Tokyo last year in dominant fashion, clocking an Olympic record 12.26 in the semifinals (fourth on the all-time list) and then running 12.37 in the final to become the first athlete from Puerto Rico to win an Olympic track and field gold. Harrison took the silver in Tokyo in 12.52.
This will be the first World Championships for Camacho-Quinn, a three-time NCAA champion who was born and raised in South Carolina. The 25-year-old competes for Puerto Rico, her mother&rsquo;s native home.
Camacho-Quinn has won eight of the nine hurdles races she has finished this year, including a season&rsquo;s best 12.37 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Rome on 9 June. She also won at the Prefontaine Classic in May at Eugene&rsquo;s Hayward Field &ndash; the World Championships venue &ndash; in 12.45. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610ba2dae02010cbc23fe7d7.jpg" alt="Jasmine Camacho-Quinn wins 100m hurdles gold ahead of Kendra Harrison at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games" />
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn wins 100m hurdles gold ahead of Kendra Harrison at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
But Camacho-Quinn will face a daunting quartet of US challengers for the world title. The Olympic champion&rsquo;s 12.37 stood as the world-leading time this year until Harrison and Alaysha Johnson both went faster in finishing 1-2 in the final of the US Championships on 25 June. Harrison out-leaned Johnson to win in 12.34, with Johnson clocking 12.35 to move into a tie for fifth place on the all-time US performer list. NCAA champion Alia Armstrong took third in a personal best 12.47.
Reigning world champion Nia Ali won her semifinal in 12.49 and skipped the final as she had a bye into the World Championships as the winner in Doha three years ago. The 33-year-old Ali has struggled to find her best form this year, winning only one of her 10 races, but will be determined to defend her title.
Oregon could mark a defining moment on home soil for Harrison, who is looking for that elusive gold at the age of 29. She set the world record of 12.20 in 2016, just weeks after the disappointment of failing to make the US team for the Rio Olympic Games.
Harrison has silver medals from Tokyo and the 2019 World Championships in Doha. She is also a five-time national champion and won the world indoor 60m hurdles title in 2018. A world outdoor title would be a crowning achievement on an already stellar career.&nbsp;
The deep field also includes Nigeria&rsquo;s Tobi Amusan, the 2018 Commonwealth Games champion and 2021 Diamond Trophy winner. She finished fourth at the Tokyo Games and Doha World Championships, but should challenge for a podium place in Eugene.
The 25-year-old Amusan has been in superb form, winning a Diamond League race in Paris on 18 June in 12.41, the fourth-fastest time of the year. She finished a close second to Camacho-Quinn in Stockholm on 20 June, with the Puerto Rican winning in 12.46 to her 12.50.
The field also includes Jamaica&rsquo;s new national champion, Britany Anderson, who has a season&rsquo;s best of 12.45.
Overall, at least half a dozen athletes have a realistic shot at winning the star-studded event. The preliminary rounds take place on 23 July, with the semifinals and final contested on the final day of the championships.
&nbsp;
<h2>Men's 110m hurdles</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-championships/oregon22/timetable/bydiscipline/men/110-metres-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/110mh/men?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2022-06-26&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/110-metres-hurdles/outdoor/men/senior/2022?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/hurdles/110-metres-hurdles/outdoor/men/senior?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2022-07-06" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/hurdles/110-metres-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
Before embarking on an American football career as a wide receiver in the NFL, Devon Allen has some business to complete on the track.
The 27-year-old US hurdler is aiming for his first global medal in the 110m hurdles, and he goes into the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 as a top contender for gold. &nbsp;
Allen has been a major force in the sprint hurdles this year, posting the third-fastest time in history when he clocked 12.84 seconds at the New York Grand Prix at Icahn Stadium on 12 June. Overtaking reigning world champion and Olympic silver medallist Grant Holloway midway through the race, Allen crossed the line just 0.04 off the world record.
Allen followed that stunning performance by winning Diamond League races in Oslo (13.22) and Paris (13.20). Just a few days after his father, Louis, passed away, Allen competed at the US Championships at Eugene&rsquo;s Hayward Field and narrowly sealed his spot for the World Championships, finishing third in 13.09 behind Daniel Roberts (13.03) and Trey Cunningham (13.08).
Holloway, who won his semifinal in 13.03, skipped the final as he had a bye into the World Championships as defending champion.
&ldquo;I made it to the Olympics and the World Championships but I never held one of those medals in my hand,&rdquo; Allen said. &ldquo;To have the opportunity to battle for a medal again and, this time, to do it on home soil in the United States at Hayward Field, it&rsquo;s the chance of a lifetime. There will be nothing like this moment.&rdquo; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62c9836ea07f30e897b4d2b1.jpg" alt="Devon Allen in the 110m hurdles heats at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019" />
Devon Allen in the 110m hurdles heats at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
Allen goes into the championships performing a difficult juggling act on the track and the American football gridiron. Just nine days after the World Championships hurdles final on 17 July, he will suit up for the start of training camp with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Allen was a two-sport star at the University of Oregon from 2013 to 2016. A two-time NCAA champion on the track, he also caught 54 passes for 919 yards and eight touchdowns in 22 games in three seasons for the football team.
After suffering two separate ACL tears, Allen put his football career on hold and focused on track and field. A three-time US national champion in the 110m hurdles, he finished fifth at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and fourth at the Tokyo Games. He was also seventh at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.
Determined to resume his football career, Allen impressed NFL scouts by running the 40-yard dash in an unofficial time of 4.35 at Oregon&rsquo;s Pro Day in April. That landed him a three-year contract with the Eagles as an undrafted rookie free agent.
But first comes the small matter of competing for his first world title, on his home college track no less.
&ldquo;The goal is to get ready for Worlds, compete at Worlds, win, break the world record and then 18 July, when Worlds is done, go to (training) camp the next week,&rdquo; Allen told Oregon Live in April.
Allen&rsquo;s journey conjures memories of another US 110m hurdler who transitioned to the NFL: Renaldo Nehemiah played wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers for three seasons in the 1980s after setting multiple world records during his track career.
Allen went sub-13 seconds for the first time last year, clocking 12.99 in Zagreb at the end of the season in which he won the Diamond Trophy and reached the top of the world rankings. He&rsquo;s the only man to break the 13-second barrier this season &ndash; and his 12.84 in New York put him third on the all-time list behind the 12.81 run by Holloway in Eugene last year and the world mark of 12.80 set by Aries Merritt in 2012.
The US team boasts extreme depth in the 110m hurdles and could easily sweep the podium in Eugene. At the US Championships, Roberts ran from the front to capture his second national title, while Cunningham showed the form that made him the NCAA champion to take second. Allen finished just three-thousandths of a second ahead of Jamal Britt to claim the final spot on the team.
Four US athletes hold the three fastest times this year &ndash; Allen&rsquo;s 12.84 followed by Cunningham at 13.00 and Roberts and Holloway at 13.03. Merritt&rsquo;s world record could be under threat at the championships.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to bring my A-game like I always do," said Holloway. "I feel like I&rsquo;m in 12.7 shape, just like everybody else.&rdquo;
The Jamaicans shape up as the US athletes' main rivals, led by Tokyo Olympic champion Hansle Parchment. He clocked 13.09 at the Birmingham Diamond League on 21 May and won the Jamaican Championships in 13.14 ahead of Rasheed Broadbell (13.20) and Orlando Bennett (13.28). The 2017 world and 2016 Olympic champion Omar McLeod stumbled after the second hurdle and finished last in 13.54.
Brazil&rsquo;s Rafael Pereira and France&rsquo;s Sasha Zhoya, who both clocked 13.17 this year, should also be in the mix. The heats will be held on day two of the championships, with the semifinals and final the next day.
Steve Wilson for World Athletics

WCH Oregon22 preview: 100m and 110m hurdles

Despite all she has already achieved in the sport, Nia Ali feels that in a way, she is just getting started.
&ldquo;It sounds crazy, but I feel like I am having a late development, if that makes sense,&rdquo; says the three-time world sprint hurdles gold medallist.
&ldquo;I was NCAA champion back in 2011, but I have learned so much since then. I&rsquo;m still learning a lot now.
&ldquo;It has been my best year so far in terms of how I&rsquo;ve approached training and how I have been able to stay the course with everything. It&rsquo;s been falling into place.&rdquo;
In a season that offers her the chance to defend her world 100m hurdles title on home soil at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, that certainly bodes well. After winning back-to-back world indoor 60m hurdles titles in 2014 and 2016, Ali glided to her first global outdoor gold in Doha in 2019. Following that race she was joined on the track by her then four-year-old son Titus and one-year-old daughter Yuri, and later hailed the performances of her fellow mothers, including Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Allyson Felix, as providing her with inspiration. 
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 Ali and her partner Andre De Grasse &ndash; Canada&rsquo;s Olympic 200m champion &ndash; have since welcomed their son Kenzo into the world, and being a source of inspiration herself is among the 33-year-old&rsquo;s main motivators.
&ldquo;I know it means so much more now, because I see people who reach out to me about being inspired and motivated &ndash; moms from all walks of life,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s really what motivates me the most &ndash; that&rsquo;s why I do it. Not just for the athlete who is trying to come back, but the everyday mom who is just trying to get herself through postpartum and get to work.
&ldquo;I am just trying to come back stronger than ever, so everyone around me can be motivated.&rdquo;
She is succeeding in that respect.
In 2016, following her second world indoor title win, <a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/iaaf-world-indoor-championships-7093741/news/feature/portland-2016-nia-ali-60m-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ali explained how pregnancy had previously been considered as marking the end of an elite career</a>. But she has shown that is far from the case. Rather than it being detrimental, Ali believes motherhood has helped her to become a better athlete. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/2156da13-e52d-4308-b69f-b6bd31840790.png" alt="Nia Ali after winning the 60m hurdles at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016" />
Nia Ali after winning the 60m hurdles at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 (&copy; AFP / Getty Images)
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 &ldquo;As I am growing as a parent, it helps me grow as an athlete,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Being able to manage a household, it just gives me a whole new perspective at training and the way I go there &ndash; I&rsquo;m able to compartmentalise now so much better, I am able to build on the lessons I learned as a parent and bring them to the track. It has been an amazing journey and I&rsquo;m blessed to still be out there.&rdquo;
On those lessons learned, she adds: &ldquo;It's a lot to do with perseverance and patience. The range (in her children&rsquo;s ages) &ndash; seven years to newborn, and how newborn always changes. New toys, new activities, the way you raise a child, the way you parent. The methods that people use, they change, so I&rsquo;m always learning and finding something new.
&ldquo;I take that over to training &ndash; constantly asking questions, constantly being a student and studying the sport and myself: how can I grow? Also with patience &ndash; having to be able to take that deep breath so often, every day! I am able to dial back in immediately after I make a mistake in training and figure out what needs to be done right there at the time. Focus on that and let it go.&rdquo;
The innocence of children also helps to remind her of her passion for the sport.
&ldquo;They don&rsquo;t look at it as work, because they do it for fun!&rdquo; she laughs. &ldquo;So, they are like &lsquo;oh, you&rsquo;re going to work? No, you&rsquo;re going to track practice!&rsquo; And I&rsquo;m like &lsquo;yes, but it&rsquo;s work!&rsquo; So when we come home they&rsquo;re jumping on us and we&rsquo;re like, we&rsquo;ve got to try to recover, please get off my legs!
&ldquo;Seeing how natural it is just reminds you that innately, this is you &ndash; you have all of this. All this fearlessness. My daughter will jump from the top of the slide in the playground and I&rsquo;m like, at one point, I used to do that! Now I think about everything. It reminds you to be fearless &ndash; this is still you. This is your DNA &ndash; you have this courage, you have this strength to attack it. From that mindset, sometimes it really does help.&rdquo; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/0107e80c-791c-4b79-ba06-104a78344fb1.png" alt="Nia Ali and son Titus Maximus celebrate in Rio" />
Nia Ali and son Titus Maximus celebrate in Rio
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 She has taken that attitude into this year. Ali&rsquo;s wind-aided 12.59 (3.7m/s) in Florida in March is her fastest ever 100m hurdles season opener in any conditions, while in her next meeting &ndash; the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in April &ndash; she clocked a wind-legal 12.59. Never before had she run so fast at that stage of her season. She went on to claim top three spots in the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold events in Ostrava and Hengelo, as well as at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Rome.
Next up is the USATF Championships, taking place 23-26 June at Hayward Field. Demonstrative of the strides being made, USATF has announced that through a partnership with &amp;Mother &ndash; a non-profit organisation co-founded by multiple world 800m medallist Alysia Montano &ndash; an onsite childcare pilot for athletes and coaches will be on offer at the event.
For Ali, the national event is another step towards next month&rsquo;s World Athletics Championships at the same venue. As she has a wild card entry as a defending champion, USA can send four athletes in her event &ndash; an exciting prospect, particularly for a championships on home soil. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62b34aee2f13aa21558d2e0c.jpg" alt="Nia Ali in action at the 2016 US Trials in Eugene" />
Nia Ali in action at the 2016 US Trials in Eugene (&copy; Getty Images)
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 &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve only ever been (at a major championships) on home soil once before and that was World Indoors in Portland. So, to be back in Eugene and have that same energy, have my family there &ndash; they travel all the time for me but now they can come directly,&rdquo; says multiple national medallist Ali, who secured Olympic silver as part of a US top three at the 2016 Games in Rio.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited, I&rsquo;m anxious &ndash; everything. I want to just be able to channel all that energy into something positive and put on a great show for everybody.&rdquo;
And that won&rsquo;t stop in Oregon.
&ldquo;Watching my competitors run last year and run spectacular times and have a great season, that is always motivating and it excites me to get back out there,&rdquo; she adds.
&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;m older but I don&rsquo;t feel it, so I want to continue to build on that and god willing I&rsquo;m around through Paris (2024 Olympics) and trying to reach some more goals.&rdquo;
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Nia Ali is just getting started

Hurdles champion Ali, more motivated than ever

Imagine working for years towards a specific goal &ndash; that of competing at an Olympic Games &ndash; only to have it snatched away moments before it happens.&nbsp;
Cyrena Samba-Mayela knows how that feels.&nbsp;
The French sprint hurdler was warming up for her opening race at the Tokyo Olympics last year when she injured her hamstring, an old problem resurfacing at the worst time, forcing her to leave an absent lane on the track and a huge void in her heart.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It was hard, really hard,&rdquo; she says now. &ldquo;Hard to the point where I had it in my heart for more than one month. I didn&rsquo;t want to go to holidays or enjoy anything. It was like a dream torn away.&rdquo;
She was just 20 at the time, young enough to come again, and Samba-Mayela was adamant that she would, committing herself to strengthening her body better than ever in the off-season.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The point was not to go back to this (situation),&rdquo; she says.&nbsp;
So far, so good.&nbsp;
At the&nbsp;World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22, Samba-Mayela had the kind of magical day that put her Olympic experience firmly behind her, winning her 60m hurdles heat in 7.91 in the morning, her semifinal in 7.85 that evening, then winning gold in the final in 7.78, a French record.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m in a dream,&rdquo; she said after the race, and this time it was one that couldn&rsquo;t be torn away.&nbsp; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6241987f614d351fbaeae33f.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Cyrena Samba-Mayela wins the world indoor 60m hurdles title&nbsp;(&copy; Getty Images) <img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6241985a216c52da8bb8a2f5.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 One of the first calls she made that night was to her family, who were watching back home in&nbsp;Champigny-sur-Marne, a suburb of&nbsp;Paris. &ldquo;They cried,&rdquo; says Samba-Mayela. &ldquo;They remembered all the bad things I went through, and they were really proud of me.&rdquo;
Her parents, who are of Congolese origin, are both former athletes and they encouraged Samba-Mayela &ndash; who was born and raised in France &ndash; to take up athletics when she was 15.&nbsp;
Before that she&rsquo;d done judo, basketball, gymnastics and ice skating, sports that she believes stood to her when she turned to hurdles, having started out as a sprinter.&nbsp;
Her first coach at Athletic Club Paris Joinville was&nbsp;Albertine Koutouan, an Ivorian who&rsquo;d been African champion in the heptathlon in 1990 and who first encouraged&nbsp;Samba-Mayela to try the hurdles, figuring it&rsquo;d be a good fit.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I fell in love directly,&rdquo; she says of the event.&nbsp;
Samba-Mayela showed immediate promise, clocking 8.37 for the 60m hurdles (76.2cm) at the age of 15 and 13.32 for 100m hurdles over the same barriers.&nbsp;
After another year of training, she went to the World U18 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2017 and showed her world-class credentials, clocking a wind-assisted 12.80 over the 76.2cm barriers to win silver behind Jamaica&rsquo;s Britany Anderson, with Yoveiny Mota of Venezuela just behind them in fourth.&nbsp;
Fast forward four and a half years, and Samba-Mayela, Anderson and Mota were back in another global final &ndash; this time at senior level in Belgrade.&nbsp; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/623646abac5a406184ec34de.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Samba-Mayela's fellow 2017 world U18 finalists Britany Anderson and Yoveiny Mota also featured in the world indoor final in Belgrade (&copy; Getty Images)
 For Samba-Mayela, a lot had changed in the years since. These days she&rsquo;s no longer at school but at university, studying architecture and interior design remotely while training at INSEP, the French Institute of Sport, Exercise and Performance.&nbsp;
For the past two years, her career has been guided by Teddy Tamgho, the 2013 world champion in the triple jump who&rsquo;s one of only six men in history to surpass the 18-metre barrier.&nbsp;
How is Tamgho as a coach?
&ldquo;A perfectionist,&rdquo; says Samba-Mayela. &ldquo;But he knows what he&rsquo;s doing. He&rsquo;s a visionary, and that&rsquo;s the most important thing. He&rsquo;s a great coach, a really great coach.&rdquo;
Working alongside her under Tamgho is Burkina Faso&rsquo;s Marthe Yasmine Koala, a 12.81-second hurdler last year, and Samba-Mayela says the norm for them is about four hours of training each day.&nbsp;
But it&rsquo;s one thing being physically ready. Since Tokyo, Samba-Mayela has put more work than ever into being psychologically primed for the big stage.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I changed so much, learned how to master the mental side,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re not good in your mind, it&rsquo;s not going to work.&rdquo;
She has proven in the past that she can perform when it counts, winning silver at the European U23 Championships last year in 12.80, a few weeks before that hamstring issue arose in Tokyo. Having rehabbed and recovered from that, Samba-Mayela came back stronger than ever in 2022, finishing second at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Karlsruhe in a PB of 7.84 before winning the French indoor title in 7.92.&nbsp; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62419842216c52da8bb8a2f2.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Cyrena Samba-Mayela at the European U23 Championships (&copy; Getty Images)
 Those performances marked her out as a big contender in Belgrade, but rather than worry about her rivals or get stressed about the fine margins separating success from failure, Samba-Mayela took a different attitude into the championships.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The day I ran, it was about enjoying the moment so I could run to my full potential,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Honestly, I was not nervous (before the final) because I was so enjoying the moment.&rdquo;
She might have been denied a chance to compete in Tokyo, but what she did pick up was valuable experience, &ldquo;being around champions&rdquo; and seeing how they operate on the biggest stage. &ldquo;So I&rsquo;m thankful for that,&rdquo; she says.&nbsp;
In the 60m hurdles final in Belgrade, Samba-Mayela got a flying start and midway through the race, it was her against Devynne Charlton of The Bahamas and USA&rsquo;s Gabby Cunningham in the race for gold.&nbsp;
The 21-year-old French star proved just too quick, her hurdling too crisp, for the others to match, and Samba-Mayela took victory in 7.78, with Charlton second in 7.81 and Cunningham third in 7.87.&nbsp;
As it was after the heat and semifinal, Samba-Mayela did not sprint up the bend and into the crash pads, but slowed to an abrupt stop just short of them, collapsing to her knees. She cried a river of joyful tears, her exulted screams ringing out around the arena.&nbsp; 
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 &ldquo;I'm thankful to all people, and especially to my coach, who never stopped believing in me,&rdquo; she said a while later.&nbsp;
As she turns her focus to the outdoor season, Samba-Mayela knows her indoor campaign was the perfect platform to help her edge closer to the world&rsquo;s best in the 100m hurdles.&nbsp;
With the&nbsp;World Athletics Championships Eugene22&nbsp;in July and the European Championships in Munich in August, there&rsquo;ll be ample opportunity to chase more medals. Her hope for the summer?
&ldquo;I wish I can be as good at this,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll give my best again.&rdquo;
Then there&rsquo;s the whole matter of Paris 2024, when Samba-Mayela will be 23.&nbsp;
The biggest show in sport will arrive in her home city that summer and with her talent and current trajectory, few would bet against Samba-Mayela making a huge impact &ndash; her Olympic dream deferred, but not yet denied.&nbsp;
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

World Athletics Indoor Championships

Injury denied Cyrena Samba-Mayela her Tokyo Olympics dream but she returned to the global stage in style in Belgrade.

From Olympic heartbreak to world indoor delight for Samba-Mayela

For Megan Tapper, inspiration can be drawn from all manner of sources.
&ldquo;I am inspired by anything,&rdquo; says the Olympic 100m hurdles bronze medallist with a smile. &ldquo;I will see an ant walking with something on their back and I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;wooow, look at that ant. He is so tiny, with that big rock on his back. If he can do it, I can do it too!&rsquo;&rdquo;
That mentality has helped the Jamaican 27-year-old to make history in the sport and, in the process, become a role model herself. With her third-place finish in Tokyo last summer, Tapper became the first Jamaican woman to ever win an Olympic 100m hurdles medal. She&rsquo;s determined to keep blazing a trail.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s one of my biggest goals in life: to show people that all those limits you have been told, that you put on yourself &ndash; they don&rsquo;t need to be there,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;If you can get past all the reasons why you can&rsquo;t and just focus on that one reason why you can, then absolutely anything is possible.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s about breaking free from preconceptions, whether self-imposed or external. &ldquo;I am not even 5ft 1in, and I am out there with an Olympic bronze medal,&rdquo; Tapper said in Tokyo, later adding: &ldquo;All the reasons why you can&rsquo;t, they are not really reasons &ndash; they are just fears that other people have projected on to you because when they tried, probably it didn&rsquo;t work out for them. So, zone in on that one reason why it is possible, and the world is your oyster.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/622cc9f827109756cb6fccb6.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Megan Tapper in Tokyo (&copy; Christel Saneh)
 That&rsquo;s exactly what she did in Tokyo. It took her a while to find her rhythm in 2021 but Tapper and her team never lost focus. Her previous personal best had been the 12.61 she ran in the semifinals of the 2019 World Championships in Doha, where she was left devastated after a fall in the final. But she returned to the global stage in superb style in Tokyo, improving her PB to 12.53 in the heats and then running 12.62 in her semifinal. The next day she clocked 12.55 in the final to finish third behind Puerto Rico's Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and USA&rsquo;s world record-holder Kendra Harrison, making history for her nation.
&ldquo;It was amazing,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I mean, as all athletes, you want the gold, but knowing that I was the first Jamaican woman to ever get an Olympic medal in the 100m hurdles when we have had so many amazing hurdlers, and still have amazing hurdlers now &ndash; that just completely blew my mind. The feeling was one of relief because I have been doing this a long time with, in my opinion, little or nothing to show for it. So, I finally proved to myself and to everyone that believed in me that it is possible.&rdquo;
Tapper was about seven years old when she discovered athletics but until the age of 12, gymnastics was her focus. &ldquo;I trained for probably five hours a day, six days a week, and it was hard,&rdquo; she remembers. &ldquo;But I know that the strength, discipline and determination that I have needed to get where I am now in track and field, I attribute it 80% to gymnastics and my coach Yasunori Ishimoto. He definitely moulded a warrior.&rdquo;
On the track, that warrior started out in the sprints and while she loved the feeling of going fast, something was missing. &ldquo;I would get a good start but I would finish at the back and I was tired of losing,&rdquo; she says. So she sought an event that would play to her strengths and found the hurdles.
&ldquo;It progressed slowly at first,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I would have liked to have been winning races constantly, but it didn&rsquo;t come as quick as that. Then, I had a coach in high school that believed in me. At the time, because I was short and they had pretty good hurdlers on the team already, no one really cared that I had joined the hurdles side or wanted to nurture my talent, but that coach did. He was also young and needed someone to believe in him as well, I think.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/622ccad727109756cb6fccb9.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Megan Tapper's sporting journey started out in gymnastics&nbsp;(&copy;&nbsp;Megan Tapper)
 Her next aim was to win a medal at Jamaica&rsquo;s legendary &lsquo;Champs&rsquo; &ndash; the National Boys&rsquo; and Girls&rsquo; Schools Athletics Championships.
&ldquo;A person yay high,&rdquo; she says, gesturing with her hands, &ldquo;only one year in the hurdles, asking you to trust her to get her a medal at the championships? Looking back, it&rsquo;s crazy that he actually said yes. As a team, we moved forward with that goal and we made it happen. I got silver, 0.001 behind Chrisdale McCarthy. I can&rsquo;t forget!&rdquo;
Missing out on that gold left her hungry. &ldquo;To this day!&rdquo; she adds with a laugh.
Although she jokes about it now, the fire had been lit. After reaching the final at the 2011 World U18 Championships, Tapper&rsquo;s aspirations soon evolved from Champs to World Championships and the Olympics. She made her senior international debut at the 2016 Games in Rio and then raced again on the global stage in London in 2017 and Doha in 2019, where she was one of three Jamaican women in the final.
&ldquo;I mean, that&rsquo;s crazy &ndash; you know?!&rdquo; says Tapper, who lined up in Doha alongside 2015 world champion Danielle Williams and Janeek Brown. &ldquo;I do feel like more attention can be given to the fact that three (Jamaican) women in 2019 made it to the 100m hurdles final. We are doing really, really well, but it&rsquo;s like, &lsquo;okay, it&rsquo;s the norm&rsquo;. But it&rsquo;s not! We are full of talent. It goes deep.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/622cc90027109756cb6fccb3.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Megan Tapper with her Jamaican teammate Britany Anderson and winner Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico after the Olympic final in Tokyo (&copy; Getty Images) &nbsp;
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<h3 style="color: #bd94ff;">Jamaican major championships success in the 100m hurdles</h3>
Three Jamaican athletes &ndash; Janeek Brown, Megan Tapper and Danielle Williams &ndash; made the final of the World Athletics Championships in Doha in 2019. Tapper is passionate about highlighting her nation's success in the event on the global stage. 
Olympic Games
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Tokyo, 2021</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">🥉 Megan Tapper (12.55)</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">8th Britany Anderson (13.24)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Beijing, 2008</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">5th Delloreen Ennis-London (12.65)</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">6th Brigitte Foster-Hylton (12.66)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Athens, 2004</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">5th Lacena Golding-Clarke (12.73)</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Sydney, 2000</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">4th Delloreen Ennis-London (12.80)</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">8th Brigitte Foster (13.49)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Atlanta, 1996</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">5th Dionne Rose (12.74)</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">6th Michelle Freeman (12.76)</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
 World Athletics Championships
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 176px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Doha, 2019</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">🥉 Danielle Williams (12.47)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">7th Janeek Brown (12.88)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Megan Tapper</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 44px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">Beijing, 2015</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">🥇 Danielle Williams (12.57)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">7th Shermaine Williams (12.95)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 44px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">Berlin, 2009</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">🥇 Brigitte Foster-Hylton (12.51)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">🥉 Delloreen Ennis-London (12.55)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Osaka, 2007</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">🥉 Delloreen Ennis-London (12.50)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">7th Vonette Dixon (12.64)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Helsinki, 2005</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">🥈 Delloreen Ennis-London (12.76)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">🥉 Brigitte Foster-Hylton (12.76)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Paris Saint-Denis, 2003</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">🥈 Brigitte Foster (12.57)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">8th Lacena Golding-Clarke (12.87)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">9th Vonette Dixon (12.87)</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Edmonton, 2001</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">6th Dionne Rose-Henley (12.79)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">8th Vonette Dixon (13.02)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Seville, 1999</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">6th Dionne Rose (12.80)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">7th Delloreen Ennis-London (12.87)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Athens, 1997</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">🥉 Michelle Freeman (12.61)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">5th Dionne Rose (12.87)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Gothenburg, 1995</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">6th Gillian Russell (12.96)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">7th Dionne Rose (12.98)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Stuttgart, 1993</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">7th Michelle Freeman (12.90)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
 It was also in 2019 that Tapper decided a change to her coaching set up was needed. Having been based in Jamaica up to that point, she reached out to Austrian coach Philipp Unfried and now splits her time between Jamaica and Austria, guided by Unfried as well as her husband, Mathue Tapper.
&ldquo;It is a huge sport centre, it has absolutely everything,&rdquo; she says of her set up in Austria, where she forms part of a training group that includes heptathlete Ivona Dadic. &ldquo;Austria is literally my second home, and I am super grateful for them.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s also clear to see how grateful she is for Mathue and her whole support network.
&ldquo;In the middle of trying to figure out who was going to be my overseer of the programme in Jamaica, my husband, who was an athlete at the time, said he would stop training and coach me,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;It was monumental because we both knew how much he wanted to be an athlete and how talented he was, but he believed that I was closer to getting a medal in the Olympics and achieving my goal than he was, and so it would mean a lot to him to help me and be more of an active part in that process. It worked out brilliantly.&rdquo;
And it was that wider support network that helped to get Tapper to the Olympics in the first place.
&ldquo;I realised that I didn&rsquo;t just want to go around and ask people for money, although at that time I was relying on external sources to keep afloat in my track and field journey,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;My friend had an online shop that sold shirts and hats and things. I collaborated with her to create my own brand. So instead of asking people for money, I would say, &lsquo;okay, you can buy this shirt but it&rsquo;s not just about the shirt, it&rsquo;s about supporting me and my journey and in that process, you get a shirt. So everybody who supported me before the Olympics can say literally, &lsquo;I helped her get there&rsquo;.&rdquo;
So too has her faith, and the support she has received from her sponsors. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so happy now to be working with Trushake Ja and Ataqfuel Ja and to continue working with Puma, as we work together to achieve goals and prove that, with the right ingredients, anything is possible,&rdquo; she adds.
Now her goal is to build on her breakthrough 2021, with the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 this year&rsquo;s main aim.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just about improving, seeing what I can do to better last year,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Because at the end of the day, that&rsquo;s all that matters. You want medals, you want times, but what can you control? You can&rsquo;t control any of those.
"There are so many variables that can cause it to go sideways and so focusing on yourself is the best thing and the most important thing. So, that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m doing.&rdquo;
And by doing so, she is providing another source of inspiration to those looking to follow in her footsteps.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

For Megan Tapper, inspiration can be drawn from all manner of sources.