Men’s 110m hurdles final
Laura Arcoleo
20 October 2000 – Yuniel Hernandez of Cuba established a season’s world junior best of 13.60 to win the men’s 110m hurdles final at the world junior championships in Santiago.
Hernandez blasted out of the blocks and took the lead since the first hurdle. Despite hitting the third and the fourth hurdles, Hernandez kept improving his pace and by the sixth hurdle it seemed as though he had already secured the gold medal.
His smooth technique and tremendous speed between the hurdles proved to be ahead of the field.
The Cuban relaxed in the last few metres and hit the last hurdle before sprinting to the finish line he crossed with both arms raised.
On his left, world youth champion Ladji Doucoure of France had a terrible start and heavily clinched the first hurdle. Doucoure seemed to be closing the gap but hitting eighth and ninth hurdles not only prevented him from catching Hernandez but also made him lose the silver medal.
In the inside lane, European junior bronze medallist Thomas Blaschek stopped the clock in 13.80 and edged Doucoure by 4 hundredth of a second.
China’s Liu Xiang missed the bronze medal by 0.03 seconds to Doucoure despite desperately dipping on the finish line.
Both Doucoure and Liu – only 17 - will have a chance to win the gold medal at next edition of the world junior championships in Kingston, Jamaica 2002.
Hernandez follows on the footsteps of his older compatriot Reinaldo Quintero and Joel Hernandez who had won the 110m hurdles world junior title in 1988 and 1996 respectively.
Five men broke the 14 seconds barrier which makes today’s race the best ever 110m hurdles world junior championships final.
