Auburn University sophomore Ja'Kobe Tharp set a new world record in the 110-meter hurdles on Wednesday at the NCAA collegiate athletics championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Tharp clocked 12.75 seconds during the semifinals at Hayward Field, surpassing the previous world record of 12.80 seconds set by American Aries Merritt in Brussels on September 7, 2012.
The 20-year-old's performance was wind-legal, aided by a tailwind of one meter per second.
It also broke the NCAA collegiate record of 12.98 seconds set by Florida's Grant Holloway in 2019.
Tharp's previous personal best was 13.01 seconds, which he lowered by more than a quarter of a second in the heat.
"I knew I had that in my legs," Tharp told reporters. He acknowledged the milestone caught him by surprise during his postseason run.
"But it wasn't on my bingo card before this meet, not at all," he said.
Reflecting on his mechanics, Tharp noted his execution felt exceptionally rapid. "The last three hurdles were kind of iffy," he said.
He recalled monitoring his momentum as he neared the final stage. "I was like, 'Whoa, I'm coming up kind of fast'," Tharp said.
The collegiate runner originally expected a time that would match the existing collegiate benchmark. "I thought maybe 12.97 or 12.98 and match the (NCAA) speed record.
But to see that ... I'm speechless, seriously," he said.
Focus on Final
Tharp's performance set a new milestone ahead of the championship final scheduled for Friday. "I'm trying to focus on what's here in front of me," he said.
"I've still got to finish it in two days, so I'm still focused on that."
Baylor University junior Demario Prince secured a spot in Friday's final by finishing second in the same heat behind Tharp, posting a wind-legal season best of 13.15 seconds.
"Obviously, (Sharp) got out," Prince said.
"I didn't think I had my cleanest race, but I just saw him start moving away and tried to chase him.
But when you're chasing a world record, it's very hard. Kudos to him."
Texas junior Kendrick Smallwood won the opening heat in 13.02 seconds, which briefly held the status of the second-fastest time globally this year before Tharp competed.
Prince outlined the standard required to contend for the title.
"In the back of my mind, I knew it was going to take 12 seconds (under 13) to win this race," he said.
"Obviously, it's 12 seconds already in the semi. In order to win, I have to go after the world record.
So, we'll see how that goes."
Baylor head coach Michael Ford expressed satisfaction with how his athlete managed the high-profile race.
"To be in a world-record race and not get caught up in it, I thought that was great for him," Ford said.
He highlighted specific technical areas where Prince could find additional speed. "I still think he can run faster.
I didn't really like the first hurdle as much.
He came up a little early, popped up a little early, and his trail leg was a little high off hurdle one.
But then after that, I think the rest of the race was fine. I think he's ready to run 13 (seconds) flat.
If he cleans up that first huddle, everything else will take care of itself."
In other events on Wednesday, the Baylor men's 4x400-meter relay team of Aren Spencer, Malik Franklin, Bailey Hashmi, and Tyler Honeyman finished 22nd overall with a time of 3:07.91, failing to advance to the final round.
Ford reflected on the relay squad's performance.
"Pretty much everybody that made it through ran a 46-mid on the first leg, and we didn't have a 46 today on that first leg," he said.
"I thought Malik did well, ran a 44 split, but we were just too far back. I'm proud of them.
They were Big 12 champs.
I think there were two goals that we didn't do, we didn't make the finals and then not running 3-flat this year."
The NCAA championship schedule shifts to the women's division on Thursday, where Baylor's Tiriah Kelley will compete in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and the 4x100-meter relay, while Serafima Lucero competes in the 400-meter hurdles and Ruth Kimeli races in the 10,000-meter final.
