Auburn University hurdler Ja'Kobe Tharp shattered the 110-meter hurdles world record by clocking 12.75 seconds during the preliminaries of the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Wednesday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
The junior athlete lowered his previous personal best of 13.01 seconds, which he set last summer during his USATF outdoor title victory, to establish the first world record performance at an NCAA meet in 50 years.
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Tharp prepared for the historic race by watching videos of iconic performances, including Aries Merritt's 2012 world record of 12.80 seconds and Grant Holloway's 2019 collegiate record of 12.98 seconds.
"I watch a couple fast races, and I can be like, 'I can do that,'" said Tharp.
The runner entered the preliminary heat focused on sending a clear message to his competitors, who had run times within a tenth of a second of his seasonal best of 13.05 seconds earlier this year.
"I knew I was in shape," said Tharp.
The athlete adjusted his technique from his freshman year, executing a seven-step approach to the first hurdle while concentrating on finishing every hurdle to avoid a snowball effect.
"But that … that's kind of crazy," said Tharp.
Tharp pulled away from the competitive field between the third and fourth hurdles, extending his lead across the second half of the track as he realized his exceptional pace.
"I just wanted to go out and send a message to everybody else that I'm here because I know earlier in the season, people ran the same time as me," said Tharp.
