PARIS — The 110-meter hurdles is a race the United States has dominated at the Olympics with 19 gold medals, 57 total medals and eight sweeps, yet no American has won since 2012.
Daniel Roberts is ready to reclaim the event. He joins teammates Grant Holloway, the three-time world outdoor champion and world indoor record holder, and Freddie Crittenden in the Olympic final Thursday night at the Stade de France.
At the U.S. Olympic Trials in June, the trio ran the fastest times in the world, led by Holloway’s 12.86. Crittenden ran 12.93 while Roberts posted a personal best of 12.96.
The native of Hampton said it’s significant that the United States will fill three of the eight lanes at the Paris Olympics.
“For a few years the USA was really struggling there,” he said, “since 2012 with (gold medalist) Aries Merritt.”
In 2016 in Rio, the Americans were even shut out of the medals on the men’s side while the U.S. women swept the 100 hurdles. The only other time the men failed to capture even one medal was 1980 when the United States boycotted the Moscow Olympics.
Holloway returned the red, white and blue to the podium by winning the silver in Tokyo, losing to Hansle Parchment of Jamaica 13.04 to 13.09.
“For us as a country too, it’s been a long road coming back to now having Grant, me and Freddie in the final,” Roberts said. “A chance to go out there to get a sweep would be very historic.”
And it’s not something that only recently crossed Roberts’ mind.
“That’s something Grant and I have been talking about since college — is coming out to put the U.S. back on top in men’s hurdles,” he said.
The last U.S. sweep was in 1960.
Roberts, 26, reached the semifinals in Tokyo three years ago, placing fifth in his race, so this is his first Olympic final.
He has had a checkered career on the world stage, with disqualifications in 2019 and 2022 at the World Championships followed by a bronze-medal finish last year In Budapest, where Holloway won his third straight title.
“It’s been a long road,” Roberts said. “(I’m) just excited to get things going. These past couple of years have been on the up and up, I’m excited for tomorrow.”
In the first semifinal, Holloway, 26, blasted out of the blocks and took a commanding lead. The field caught up to him a bit by the finish line, where he clocked 12.98 seconds.
“I felt great,” Holloway said. “It wasn’t the best race I’ve ran this year, but I’ll take it. I’m in the Olympic final, so looking forward to that and seeing what I can do.”
Roberts, running in the third semi, was nipped at the line by Orlando Bennett of Jamaica, 13.09 to 13.10, but both qualified through to the final.
Crittenden, 30, had an unusual route to the final. He was nursing an injury and carefully navigated his preliminary round with a time of 18.27 seconds.
He then took advantage of the repechage round, which is new to the Olympic Games this year, to run 13.42 seconds and advance to the semifinal, where he posted a time of 13.23 seconds.
Thursday night’s race caps a session with five finals, including the men’s 200 meters and the women’s 400-meter hurdles.
Holloway appears poised to win his first Olympic gold medal, with his personal best of 12.81 seconds from 2021 just .01 shy of Merritt’s world record.
Not so fast, said Allen Johnson, the 1996 gold medalist in the hurdles and coach at North Carolina A&T, believes Roberts is the best in the field, which also includes defending champion Parchment.
“If he does everything he’s supposed to do, he’s the best hurdler in the world,” Johnson said. “He’s just that good.”
Roberts said he is motivated by watching his teammates do well.
“Freddie’s going to be ready, man,” Roberts said. “He’s been through so much in his career, so many ups and downs. An opportunity like this doesn’t come very often, especially for him.”
But Roberts added that a lot of the motivation comes from within. “Right now, I’m just focused on me, and running faster than anybody else. If I can do that tomorrow, I’ll be very happy.”
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