“I’m human,” says Grant Holloway. “I’ve lost races before.” No sooner has he uttered that remark, however, than he breaks into a knowing smile and immediately qualifies his statement. “Outdoors more than indoors.”
For over a decade now, the American has been nothing but unbeatable over the 60m hurdles. You would have to turn the clock back to March 16, 2014, when he was just 16 and competing at the New York New Balance Nationals to unearth the last time the now 27-year-old didn’t finish first over that distance.
He’s pretty formidable over the 110m hurdles outdoors, too, having charged to the first Olympic gold of his career last summer, adding another honour to a pile that already contained an Olympic silver, three world titles outdoors and two indoors.
He wants more and, later this month, Holloway is aiming to complete an unprecedented second “three-peat” and become the first athlete ever to win three consecutive world titles and three consecutive world indoor titles.
He arrives at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing with yet another national title in his back pocket and his times heading in the right direction. You will struggle to find a more overwhelming favourite for gold in China.
An underlying knee problem means it has not, he admits, “been the quickest start I’ve had [to a year]”, Holloway opening 2025 with a win at the New Balance Grand Prix in Boston.
“I had a piece of KT tape on at the first meeting that brought up some questions,” he says. “But to still go out there and run 7.42, I think it’s pretty quick and it shows my character, shows how strong I am.”
Few of his opponents are in any doubt about that. At the time of writing, he sits as world leader after runs of 7.36 in Lievin and in New York in winning the US Indoor title, and Holloway loves nothing better than competing when there’s something tangible at stake.
“It’s all about showing up when it counts,” he says. “Each year I always challenge my team just to be better than we were last year. For me, [the targets are] always to win the main championships. There are only four races I gotta win – the World Indoor trials, World Indoors, outdoor trials and outdoor championships.”
Grant Holloway (Getty)
He has ticked the first box and is now turning his attention to the second. Holloway’s maiden world indoor title came in Belgrade in 2022 (he equalled his then world record with 7.29 in the semi-finals), before he took gold again in Glasgow last year, also clocking 7.29 in the final.
That mark was just outside the world record of 7.27 he set in February of 2024 and, though gaining vital fragments of time is notoriously difficult in his chosen event, Holloway says: “I definitely think the world record is within reach. Obviously, 7.27 is no joke but I think that once I start figuring out my form, once I start tapering up fresh, I could definitely have a shot at it.”
The world has been warned. The longevity of Holloway’s winning streak would be impressive enough in itself but, when you consider how little margin for error there is – and how much could go wrong – in clearing five hurdles at speed on the short sprint straight, it becomes all the more remarkable.
“The 60m hurdles is a quick event,” he says. “If you don’t react to the gun, that’s a tenth [of a second lost]. If you don’t take care of the first hurdle, there’s another tenth. Right now, to have multiple times in the top five for indoor hurdles and have two times in the top five for outdoor hurdles, I think that shows I’m able to do it, I’m able to produce.”
Grant Holloway (Getty)
A key part of Holloway’s success has been ingraining his technique – working with long-time coach Mike Holloway (no relation) at their Florida base – to such a depth that he doesn’t actually need to think about what he’s doing come race day.
“Practice makes permanent and permanent makes the dollar signs at the end of the race,” says the man from Virginia. “We use practice to get us ready for the track meets and we use the track meets to get us ready for the championships.
“When it clicks, man, it’s a beautiful sight. Everything just feels easy, it feels fluid, it feels fast. If you set up the race right with the first three steps and then you get to that first hurdle, every hurdle after that gets easier. If you think of a violinist playing the song, it’s just really smooth. It’s effortless. But we all know that in track and field it’s hard sometimes so it’s a love-hate relationship.”
With that in mind, can he tell within those first three steps whether or not it’s going to be a good race?
“You can definitely tell. If you get to that first hurdle with some speed and some power it’s going to be an easy race. But, if you don’t…”
There have definitely been more good performances than bad for Holloway and he bases his pre-race approach on a very simple recipe that involves some words of wisdom from his agent, the former international sprinter John Regis.
Grant Holloway (NY Indoor GP)
“He told me something five years ago and it has resonated with me ever since,” explains Holloway of a lightbulb moment. “Power and speed. I was practicing my starts and he said to me: ‘Simplify it. Power, speed, hurdle. I was like: ‘Wow’.
“Power and speed are the only two things I’m thinking about when I’m in the blocks – for my first step to be as powerful as it can be and then for me to become the speed athlete that I know I can be. The hurdling part is easy. I know how to hurdle – if I don’t know how to hurdle now, I need to go ahead and get off the track!”
The level of his skill in that regard is not really in question. The lack of an Olympic gold had been the one major blot on his copybook in need of correcting. Holloway had been expected to take first prize in Tokyo in 2021, only to be denied by Jamaican Hansel Parchment. He didn’t waste his second chance in France.
“It meant the most,” he says of that win. “Winning Olympic gold was crazy. We go from grade school and only six, seven per cent make it to the university level. From the university level, three or four per cent make it to the pro level, and at the pro level only one per cent get to the Olympic level, then it’s even smaller to get an Olympic gold. I take that into strong consideration and enjoy and love everything that comes with it.”
At the press conference which immediately followed that race in Paris, Holloway openly vented some frustration about the lack of recognition and opportunities that have come his way in comparison with the achievements of some of his fellow athletes. After all, this is an athlete who also sits second on the 110m hurdles all-time list by just 0.01 of a second, behind Aries Merritt’s world record of 12.80 and has the most sub-13-second clockings ever, with 12.
“I think I’m one of the top five athletes in this sport and yet I get treated lesser than [that],” he said in August. “I’m the one winning world titles day in, day out but I don’t have a watch deal. I put the USA on the map and make things happen but I don’t get some of the sponsorships that some athletes do who haven’t done what I’ve done.
Grant Holloway (Mark Shearman)
“I think I have the full package… personality… I know how to talk. But I just think they [USA Track and Field] put their energy elsewhere and I think it’s unfair. But,” he sighed, “I play the hand I’m dealt.”
He isn’t about to fan those flames again now, but does admit: “Track and field is a weird sport. I think, not only within the track and field world, but even with my brand adidas, we can do a better job of marketing certain athletes that have certain skills, or are going for history more so than marketing just this regular shoe brand.
“I can express my frustration but I know, at the end of the day, I’m only in this life for a period of time so my goal is to make sure that I’m taking care of myself, my family and my close ones around me.
“I really don’t really have time to harp on, saying: ‘I want this, I want that’, when I’ve already harped on about it before. Within track and field you have those people that do great for the sport – we have the Noah Lyleses of the sport, we have the Jakob Ingebrigtsens of the sport. “But we have some other fantastic stories that can be told. Think about Ryan Crouser, someone who has won three Olympic golds in a row, but it gets pushed to the wayside because it’s not one of the things that people want.
“There are so many discrepancies within track and field but, at the end of the day, I think we’ve got to be appreciative of what we’ve got. I have a solid four years left. I’m gonna make the most of it. I’m not gonna say: ‘Well, I want this. I want that’. I’m going to just let people do what they need to do to get the recognition. If they decide to finally give me the same respect, good. If they don’t, [that’s] also good.”
Holloway has teamed up with Olympic 100m champion Lyles and Olympic 400m hurdles champion Rai Benjamin to air more of his thoughts on the sport via the Beyond The Records podcast. A recurring theme is the evolution of athletics and he adds: “I’m excited to see where track and field goes. Obviously, I’m part of the evolution that’s going on right now. It’s unheard of to see somebody do the things that I do but this is why track and field is such a beauty.”
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