Hurdles sprinter Jason Joseph is back to his old strength after a torrid year. He feels ready for a coup on Thursday at Weltklasse Zürich, the Diamond League final.
28.08.2025, 04:30
28.08.2025, 07:43
SDA
At the Swiss Championships in Frauenfeld, Jason Joseph's run in the 110 m hurdles final is anything but perfect. The time stops after 13.27 seconds. After 13.16 seconds in the semi-final, he had hoped for much better. "The time is solid," says the 26-year-old from Basel afterwards. "I'm 'moping' at a high level this season."
Indeed: last year, Joseph set a best time of 13.25 seconds. This year, he has already equaled his own Swiss record of 13.07 seconds twice. His weakest time this season is 13.28 seconds - not including the meeting in Monaco (17.32), where he stumbled at the fourth hurdle. He is running at a consistently high level this year.
Joseph had already performed well on a regular basis in 2023, when he clocked 13.07 seconds for the first time. His return to his former coach Claudine Müller at the end of 2022 after two years with American star coach Rana Reider paid off. The Basel native became faster and stronger in Florida and saw how top athletes train. However, he did not work much on his hurdling technique, which is why he was not able to implement the higher speed optimally. That is why he is now relying fully on Müller's expertise again. "I need Claudine."
2024 marked by injuries
Joseph's failure to get up to speed in 2024 was primarily due to injuries. After the first competition in mid-May, his hamstring gave him a hard time, which is why he was only able to compete again four weeks later at the European Championships. He won bronze there despite a modest time of 13.43 seconds. But as his form slowly returned, he experienced problems with his Achilles tendon.
As a result, he was once again unable to train properly, Joseph recalls. "I took painkillers the whole season, which didn't help. I was never able to build anything up. It was actually always damage control. After the indoor season, I felt that my Achilles tendon was getting better and better. I knew that it would work if I could train through and through."
He also changed his attitude. While the athlete with Swiss-Caribbean roots used to think about his opponents before and during races, he has now learned to focus on himself. This is also thanks to a mental coach. "I know what I'm capable of. That's the only thing that counts. Then the focus comes naturally," says Joseph. In addition, he now has a nutritionist - and he also attaches even more importance to sleep.
On the right track
"The body is fit," says the 2023 European indoor champion in the 60 m hurdles. "I feel really good. Everything I need is there. Now it's just a matter of putting all the elements together to make it really fast. The path is right. I keep showing what I can do. That's the main thing."
By "really fast", Joseph means a time of under 13 seconds. He has been aiming for this magical mark in the hurdles sprint for some time now - and would love to beat it for the first time at the Diamond League final in front of a home crowd in Zurich's Letzigrund. Although the weather forecast for Thursday is poor, the American Cordell Tinch showed at the Athletissima that top times are possible despite the pouring rain. He won in Lausanne in 12.98 seconds.
Tinch is also the one to beat in Zurich. The 25-year-old holds the best time of the year at 12.87 seconds and won four times in the Diamond League in 2025, twice finishing second. One of the two conquerors was Jason Joseph in Rome. The Swiss athlete also finished third on the podium in Paris. "That shows that anything is possible."
