This weekend Nia Ali helped to further assert the notion that the up rise of US hurdling is about more than just Brianna Rollins.
In an exciting finale, Ali showed the form and composure to storm past title favourite Sally Pearson on the last hurdle and become IAAF indoor world 60mh champion.
Ali, who had been showing the type of form that would have suggested she was at least a medal contender coming in the championships, told Flotrack post-race: “Oh my gosh, I just really wanted to get a medal and I just really wanted to keep doing what I‘d been doing. I just wanted my work to show up because I know I’d been putting the work in.
‘I’m ecstatic’
The performance comes off the back of a breakthrough year in 2013 that was only overshadowed due to Brianna Rollins incredible final season as an amateur athlete.
Finishing third at the US outdoor trials last summer and in turn qualifying for her first world championships, Ali was part of arguably the biggest breakthrough race of this decade. Understandably rival Rollins took most of the plaudits after securing the title in an US record time of 12.26 the joint 3rd fastest time ever. However the achievements of her fellow medallists on that day did not go unnoticed; with Queen Harrison 2nd and Ali 3rd the US had a full set of major championship debutants for the event. (Harrison did qualify for 2008 Olympics in 400mh when only 19) What more both set PB’s in the final and in turn became the joint 6th and 12th fastest American hurdlers of all time. While that probably isn’t what makes their achievements so special, the fact that they piped both Olympic bronze medallist Kellie Wells and multiple Olympian Lolo Jones to selection that year is.
Speaking about that race to VincoSport last year Ali said: “The time I knew I had risen was at the USA’s when I broke through that 12.50 barrier because I felt that it was an absolutely huge thing for an American hurdler to break through that 12.50 barrier.
“I just felt like I had arrived, I felt like ‘I can do this I can run to another level’.
“Brianna definitely sets the tone; she took the field to another level. With Queen Harrison being alongside me it was great as she has a great finish. Being on the outside I couldn’t feel the rest of the field it was just one of those races where you just focus on your lane but you get pulled on by everyone. So I think that’s kind of what was happening and I just ran with Queen to the finish line and I feel like everyone pulled us through it was a great race!”
A great race it was indeed, in total 5 athletes went under 12.60 to make it one of the best qualification races in history.
Joined by former Olympic gold medallist, Dawn Harper, Ali, Harrison and Rollins then travelled to the world championships in Moscow hoping to make the finals. While, Harper, Harrison and Rolins, the eventual world champion, all made it there, Ali, who had been suffering with an injury before the championships went out in the semi-finals. Despite the disappointment of not making her first outdoor finals Ali told Vinco she enjoyed the championships: “It was still a great experience, I wouldn’t change it for anything. The way it happened I felt like I learned from it tremendously I got to be out there with my coach Ryan Wilson and that was great.( Wilson went on to claim individual Silver at his first major championships) It was just unfortunate that I wasn’t able to recover from a really nagging injury.
“To be able to run even two rounds on that stage was amazing,
“It was completely overwhelming to say the least. It was just one of those things I was just happy to be there with those athletes.”
After competing among the best in the world Ali, the 2011 NCAA and world student games champion, said she knew she wanted to stay there for the rest of her career: “It’s one of those feelings once you get there you never want to go back to where you were and that’s the motivation enough. The motivation alone is to continue to be on that stage and try to be better and become the best!”
It’s clear that Ali’s confidence and determination has definitely been maintained and strengthened through the winter. Although we will have to wait until the summer to see if she can become one of the best in the world outdoors, she has already achieved that goal indoors earlier than most would have expected.
Now, both she and Rollins will approach their first proper season on the Diamond League tour as world champions and both will be likely to attract a lot of attention from meet the directors as they look to sign up two of the biggest upcoming stars of women’s hurdling.
Looking ahead to her outdoor season it appears Ali is ready to continue to run hard: “I plan to run until there’s no meets left to run in, so wherever I’m invited I’ll be glad to be there.”
Although it will obviously be Rollins who will be in higher demand, this message is likely to be music to the race director’s ears and with her performances this weekend and winter Ali will have done a lot to close the gap between the two athletes.
How she will perform this summer no-one knows; yet one thing’s for sure, with no major championships this year and with 6 of the world’s top hurdlers likely to compete, the 100metre hurdles at this year’s US Outdoor championships promises to be one of the most exciting races of the summer. With Ali right in the mix.
