Ja’Kobe Tharp breaks men’s 110-metre hurdles world record in 12.75 seconds at NCAA championships
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Auburn junior Ja’Kobe Tharp broke the world record in the men’s 110-metre hurdles at 12.75 seconds Wednesday in the semifinal round on Day 1 of the NCAA outdoor track and field championships.
The 20-year-old became the first individual since Dwight Stones in the high jump 50 years ago to break a world record at the NCAA championships. Improving his personal best by 0.26 seconds, Tharp broke the world record of 12.80 set by Olympic champion Aries Merritt in 2012 and Grant Holloway’s collegiate record of 12.98.
“I have more in my legs!” Tharp said in a trackside television interview from Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. “That was not a picture-perfect race. The last three hurdles were kind of iffy.
“This round was about getting through, surviving and advancing. This [record] is a huge bonus.”
Tharp added he wanted to make a statement in Wednesday’s race.
“I really honed in on execution,” he said, [and] wanted to send that message that I’m here and they gotta come see me.”
An under-20 world champion, he competed in the 110 hurdles final at the World Athletics Championships last summer, finishing sixth in Tokyo in 13.31.
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