American student sets world record in the 110-meter hurdles

The 20-year-old hurdler from the U.S. ran 12.75 seconds in the semifinals, beating the previous record set by his compatriot Aries Merritt in 2012 by five hundredths of a second. However, the time still needs to be officially recognized by World Athletics.

“I knew I had the legs for it,” the U20 world champion, who had never previously run under 13 seconds, told reporters.

With this performance, Tharp set a world record that has been highly coveted for years—including by three-time world champion Grant Holloway, who had already come very close to it in 2021 with a time of 12.81 seconds.