The pairs of running spikes in which Aries Merritt and Kevin Mayer respectively established the current world records for the 110m hurdles and the decathlon are on display at the MOWA Track &amp; Field Heritage Exhibition Oregon22 in Portland, Oregon.
The <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/heritage/news/mowa-heritage-exhibition-oregon22-portland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Museum of World Athletics (MOWA) exhibition</a> which is the first of two heritage displays in Oregon ahead of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 (15-24 July), was opened two months ago this week and is located in Pioneer Place shopping mall in downtown Portland.
<h3>Destroying the record</h3>
Aries Merritt flew to the 12.80 world record for 110m hurdles in Brussels on 7 September 2012, improving the previous global mark by an incredible 0.07.
&ldquo;I felt I could set a record,&rdquo; Merritt said after the race. &ldquo;But just destroying it (the world record) like that, I never imagined it would happen that way.&rdquo;
Merritt&rsquo;s spikes are displayed adjacent to the 1997 World Championships 110m hurdles winning shoes of compatriot Allen Johnson, the 1996 Olympic and four-time world champion.
Two shelves above Johnson&rsquo;s spikes are the singlet and shoes of Gail Devers from the 2004 World Indoor Championships in Budapest where she took 60m gold and 60m hurdles silver.
<h3>&lsquo;We live for moments like this&rsquo;</h3>
France&rsquo;s Kevin Mayer set the current decathlon world record of 9126 in Talence on 16 September 2018, an improvement of 81 points.
Mayer&rsquo;s shoes on display in Portland are from the 1500m, just one pair from a variety of items of footwear he used over the two days, with his world record helped by personal bests in three events.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,&rdquo; said Mayer after becoming the first French man to hold the decathlon world record. &ldquo;We live for moments like this that are simply incredible. I couldn&rsquo;t cry. I don&rsquo;t have any more tears left because I was crying so much before the 1500m.&rdquo;
Metres away from Mayer&rsquo;s spikes are the US tracksuit jacket of Bill Toomey, the 1968 Olympic decathlon champion and world record-breaker in 1969. Nearby in another display cabinet is the Athens 2004 Olympic Games heptathlon winning singlet of Sweden&rsquo;s Carolina Kluft.
The world record artefacts of Merritt and Mayer are among the MOWA&rsquo;s exhibition in Oregon of singlets, running shoes, equipment and trophies from more than 60 all-time greats of track and field athletics, representing more than 25 countries across all six continental areas.
The Portland exhibit will be open to the public until the end of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on 24 July. A second MOWA exhibition in the University of Oregon in Eugene, where the 2000 athletes will be accommodated during the championships, opens on 23 June, less than a month before the championships, and will also close on 24 July.
Chris Turner for World Athletics Heritage

Spikes worn by Aries Merritt and Kevin Mayer to feature at the MOWA Track & Field Heritage Exhibition Oregon22

Two world records honoured in Portland

Renaldo Nehemiah, Allen Johnson, Aries Merritt and Grant Holloway recently came together virtually for a special 110m hurdles edition of the World Athletics podcast.
The four US hurdling stars had overlapping careers with Nehemiah leading the way. Back in 1981 he became the first man to break 13 seconds in the 110m hurdles, clocking a world record of 12.93 that stood for eight years.
&ldquo;Today&rsquo;s athletes come in with the mindset that they can run fast &ndash; or at least as fast as I ran,&rdquo; said the four-time US champion. &ldquo;During my era, that elusive 13-second barrier wasn&rsquo;t even a thought. But today, thanks to the likes of Allen Johnson and Aries and now Grant, more people believe it&rsquo;s achievable, so I love that.&rdquo; 
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 In the early 1990s, just as Nehemiah&rsquo;s career was coming to an end, Johnson&rsquo;s was just getting started. He recalls watching Nehemiah race in his hometown.
&ldquo;I grew up in Fairfax, Virginia, where they used to have the Mobil meet,&rdquo; said Johnson, a four-time world champion in the 110m hurdles. &ldquo;I remember back in 1987 I had a front-row seat near to the first hurdle. Renaldo was there running and that was neat.
&ldquo;I came up through the sport watching Renaldo and Greg Foster and Roger Kingdom. It was just understood that the Americans were going to dominate the hurdles, so if you wanted to be the top US guy, you had to be ready to be the top guy in the world.&rdquo;
Johnson and Merritt raced several times between 2005 and 2009. Merritt went on to win Olympic gold in 2012, something he recalls seeing Johnson do 16 years prior.
&ldquo;It was like a dream come true racing Allen,&rdquo; said Merritt, the world record-holder. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d looked up to Allen since 1996. I didn&rsquo;t even know back then that I was going to be a hurdler, but I remember watching him win Olympic gold in Atlanta and I told my mom that I wanted to do that.
&ldquo;In the era I ran against Allen, there were several other guys around the world running fast,&rdquo; added Merritt. &ldquo;We had Dayron (Robles) running well, and Liu Xiang just seemed extraordinary. I remember studying Liu&rsquo;s race, I studied Allen&rsquo;s race. I also studied Renaldo&rsquo;s trail leg mechanics and that&rsquo;s pretty much how my technique was born.&rdquo;
Merritt not only inspired Holloway, but he also became a mentor to the 23-year-old, who in 2019 won the world title and earlier this year broke the world indoor record.
&ldquo;Not to make everyone feel old, but my last year of high school was 2016,&rdquo; Holloway said with a laugh. &ldquo;I was taking eight steps to the first hurdle back then, but when I got to campus at the University of Florida, I told coach (Mike) Holloway that I wanted to do seven steps. I&rsquo;d regularly watch videos of all these great hurdlers, and the seven-step approach was big. It was a struggle to begin with, but it takes time and consistency.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had the privilege to not only run against Aries but also reach out to him and ask him to watch my films,&rdquo; added Holloway. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been there as a mentor for me. I feel like I&rsquo;m only scratching the surface.&rdquo;
World Athletics

Renaldo Nehemiah, Allen Johnson, Aries Merritt and Grant Holloway recently came together virtually for a special 110m hurdles edition of the World Athletics podcast.

World Athletics Podcast – 110m hurdles special

USA&rsquo;s 2012 London Olympic Games 110m hurdles champion Aries Merritt has become the latest star athlete to give his support to the IAAF Heritage World Athletics Championships Exhibition which opens in Doha, Qatar on Thursday 18 April.
Merritt, the fastest man ever over the sprint hurdles, has generously donated to the IAAF Heritage Collection the pair of spikes which he wore when flying to the current 110m hurdles world record of 12.80 seconds in the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Brussels on 7 September 2012.
The spikes will be on public display in the IAAF Heritage Exhibition in the City Center Doha shopping mall for six months leading into and through the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 (27 Sep to 6 Oct).
In a special ceremony on the evening of Thursday 18 April, IAAF President Sebastian Coe together with Dahlan Al Hamad, IAAF Vice President and Director General of the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 Local Organising Committee, will officially open the world&rsquo;s largest ever display of athletics artefacts and memorabilia.
&ldquo;When I heard about the IAAF Heritage project, I immediately knew I had to become involved and help promote track and field,&rdquo; Merritt said. &ldquo;I hope that the display of my world record spikes in Doha will attract the attention of sports fans and the preservation of the shoes will assist the telling of tracks&rsquo; incredible story to future generations.&rdquo;
TIMELINE: Blankers-Koen to Jackson to Johnson to Merritt
Hurdling history will play an important part in the exhibition displays. Fanny Blankers-Koen&rsquo;s Olympic accreditation cards from London 1948, Nawal El Moutawakel&rsquo;s 1984 Olympic spikes, Colin Jackson&rsquo;s Stuttgart 1993 world record vest, Allen Johnson&rsquo;s Athens 1997 spikes, Nezha Bidouane&rsquo;s Edmonton 2001 bodysuit and number, Jana Pittman&rsquo;s Paris 2003 winning vest and number are just a few of artefacts from famous global champions which will be on display alongside Merritt&rsquo;s spikes.
The IAAF Heritage World Athletics Championships Exhibition which is kindly supported by the International Athletics Foundation, ASICS and SEIKO will be open from Thursday 18 April to Monday 7 October 2019 . 
IAAF

USA’s 2012 London Olympic Games 110m hurdles champion Aries Merritt has become the latest star athlete to give his support to the IAAF Heritage World Athletics Championships Exhibition which opens in Doha, Qatar on Thursday 18 April.

Merritt donates world record spikes – ‘2 weeks to go’ to IAAF Heritage Exhibition in Doha

World 110m hurdles record holder Aries Merritt has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the sport. Here the 2012 Olympic 110m hurdles champion talks about his devotion to the hurdles.
&nbsp;
The first time I ever saw a hurdles race was when Allen Johnson won the 1996 Olympic 110m hurdles final. I was so taken by the experience I turned around to my mum and said, &lsquo;that&rsquo;s what I want to do when I grow up&rsquo;. I have to point out, that at that stage I did not specifically want to be a hurdler but more I wanted to run at the Olympics Games. I started my track career as a 100m, 200m, and 400m sprinter but after coach spotted me jumping a random fence by accident I ended up becoming a hurdler at high school.
I will never forget my first competitive hurdles race. I had just learned to three-step between hurdles and although I ended up winning the race in 17.5 it was technically the most awful effort, but I did what I had to do!
By my second year of hurdles I ran 14.5 and that acted as a motivation moving forward for me to win a college scholarship and eventually become a professional athlete and see the world.
The hurdles itself is the art form of track and field. You need speed, you need to be flexible and have impeccable technique. It embodies everything in track and field.
It is an event that can quickly knock you down. The skill is to be able to pick yourself up again. Then again life is about overcoming hurdles and I have overcome many in my career, including recovering from injury and undergoing a kidney transplant, in my desire to become Olympic champion or world medallist.
For anyone else wanting to give the hurdles a shot I would say you don&rsquo;t have to be Usain Bolt to be effective. Speed certainly helps in the hurdles but you don&rsquo;t need to be the fastest athlete to succeed. What is more important is that you have an understanding of the event and the basic concepts of hurdling and as more people have understood the event over time the quicker people are running the hurdles.
I am personally very fortunate for the opportunities hurdles has given me. It has allowed me to see many beautiful things across the world and broadened my mind and I am very grateful for that.
Steve Landells for the IAAF

World 110m hurdles record holder Aries Merritt has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the sport. Here the 2012 Olympic 110m hurdles champion talks about his devotion to the hurdles.

Aries Merritt: I love hurdling because 

US sprint hurdler Aries Merritt capped a perfect 2012 season by smashing the world 110m hurdles record in Brussels to add to his Olympic title he won in London. Here Merritt reflects on that magic moment in the Belgian capital.
&nbsp;
<hr />
&nbsp;
"The moment when I glanced over at the clock after the 2012 Brussels Diamond League and I ran a time of 12.81 &ndash; which was rounded down to 12.80 &ndash; was very special.
&ldquo;I had chased the world record all that season but in my penultimate race of the season &ndash; a 12.97 clocking with a 1.2m/s tailwind &ndash; I thought my last realistic chance of breaking the mark of 12.87 (held by Dayron Robles) had gone. I didn&rsquo;t anticipate anything in Brussels. It was my last race of the year and all I was concerned about was going home after two-and-a-half months in Europe.
&ldquo;That day I wasn&rsquo;t going for a particular time, I was just focused on the win. My start wasn&rsquo;t particularly great and at about halfway I thought Jason (Richardson) should be coming about now because that&rsquo;s how it was through much of the season, but that day he wasn&rsquo;t there. I thought, &lsquo;okay, he must be having a bad race, I&rsquo;ll just keep this going&rsquo;. I did, however, notice the hurdles coming up on me really quickly and that&rsquo;s when my technique really started to deteriorate over hurdles nine and 10.
&ldquo;I crossed the line and thought, &lsquo;this must be quick&rsquo;, but every time I had thought that during the season, I had recorded about 12.93. As I crossed the line, I saw the time and started screaming and yelling. I asked my agent, &lsquo;is this for real?&rsquo; and he replied, &lsquo;Yes, it&rsquo;s for real&rsquo;. I was in complete disbelief.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;I had envisaged breaking the world record but with a time of 12.85. All my passwords were 12.85 &ndash; I had this vision of breaking the world record by a miniscule amount.
&ldquo;Because it had been to a place it had never experienced before, my body started to shut down after the race. Before I went to the post-race press conference, my calves and hamstrings were starting to tighten and cramp. I remember Usain Bolt was at the press conference and he graciously said, &lsquo;I am not going to take this moment away from you&rsquo;.
&ldquo;The funny thing was Brussels was the one race that season where I didn&rsquo;t try to break the world record. It just happened on its own.&rdquo;
Steve Landells for the IAAF

US sprint hurdler Aries Merritt capped a perfect 2012 season by smashing the world 110m hurdles record in Brussels to add to his Olympic title he won in London. Here Merritt reflects on that magic moment in the Belgian capital.

That moment when… Merritt broke the world record

Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands and Hellen Obiri of Kenya lit up the middle distance events at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rome on Thursday night (8), turning in a pair stunning performances to set world-leading times in their respective events at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea.&nbsp;
In the end, they turned what looked like competitive races into absolute routs on a warm, dry evening in the Olympic Stadium, with Hassan blasting to victory over 1500m in 3:56.22 and Obiri setting a Kenyan record of 14:18.37 to come home alone in the 5000m.
After a steady opening half of the women&rsquo;s 1500m &ndash; where 800m was reached in a conservative 2:07 &ndash; Hassan moved towards the front and when she dropped the hammer on the final lap, her rivals simply had no response. She clocked a 60.7-second final lap to come home well clear of Winny Chebet (3:59.16) and Konstanze Klosterhalfen (3:59.30), who both set lifetime bests.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I am very surprised, such a fast time!&rdquo; said Hassan. &ldquo;I felt strong, but did not push too early or start too fast. It was not so hard for me.&rdquo;
In the 5000m, the talk beforehand had been all about Genzebe Dibaba&rsquo;s attempt at her older sister Tirunesh&rsquo;s world record, and confidence seemed high in the Ethiopian&rsquo;s camp, with a sub-14-minute pace requested at the technical meeting two days before.
However, it was eventually decided that a 14:10 pace would suffice, and Dibaba duly assumed pole position behind the pacemakers and passed 1000m in 2:51. But at 3000m, reached in 8:38, the first cracks were beginning to show for the 1500m world record-holder.
Obiri, who had finished second in the Olympic 5000m final, soon put Dibaba&rsquo;s endurance to the test, charging ahead at the front of the race. It was a surge no one, not even Dibaba, could handle, and the Kenyan reeled off a 65-second lap to bring her clear of her rivals.
From there, she kept pouring coal on the fire, eventually crossing the line and falling to the track with a world lead and national record in hand. Agnes Tiprop came through strongly for second in 14:33.09, with young Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey third in 14:33.32, moving to second on the world U20 all-time list. Dibaba faded to sixth in 14:41.55.
"When I came to this race, I told myself that nobody can beat me," said Obiri. "I thought Genzebe would push it forward but when she did not, I tried to do that myself. From the beginning, I was looking to the front, thinking about a time around 14:18. I even think I can improve it at the next competition."
<h3>Kipruto all class in steeplechase</h3>
Elsewhere Conseslus Kipruto confirmed his superiority over the world of steeplechasing with a classy, almost cocky display to win in 8:04.63. In a race that set out at a swift pace &ndash; they passed 1000m in 2:37 &ndash; Kipruto nestled behind the pacemakers, biding his time. The pace inevitably slowed in the second kilometre, and when the field hit 2000m in 5:23, Kipruto swept to the front.
He pulled with him compatriots Amos Kirui, Jairus Birech, and Moroccan newcomer Soufiane El Bakkali. Kipruto, just as he did in Rio, then refused to surrender the lead throughout the final lap.
Just when it seemed he was coming under threat, as El Bakkali ranged up alongside with 100 metres to run, the Olympic champion shifted gears impressively, cruising clear and crossing the line almost nonchalantly with the night&rsquo;s first world lead.
El Bakkali took nine seconds off his PB to finish second in 8:05.17, with Birech third in 8:07.84. Two-time Olympic champion Ezekiel Kemboi made a disappointing return, trailing home 17th in 8:33.07.
&ldquo;I always try to keep the speed for the last two laps and when I have enough power, it pays off,&rdquo; said Kipruto. &ldquo;I started this season as planned &ndash; 8:04 is a good time.&rdquo;
In the men&rsquo;s 800m, Poland&rsquo;s Adam Kszczot ran a typically coy race to take victory in 1:45.96 ahead of Kipyegon Bett (1:46.00) and Donavan Brazier (1:46.08). The early pacemaker proved essentially useless to the runners, passing 400m in 49.25, more than a second faster than the requested schedule.
It was so quick that Kinyor tried to snatch the race itself, looking around with 200 metres to run and deciding that his lead was sufficient to carry on. However, he was struck down with overwhelming fatigue as he turned for home and the first to pass was Kszczot, who powered past to victory ahead of Bett.
&ldquo;I had to change pace at least three or four times in the race and it cost me a lot,&rdquo; said Kszczot. &ldquo;But I was still able to beat the guys with even better times and that makes me happy.&rdquo;
<h3>Merritt back on top</h3>
In the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles, Aries Merritt proved he is once again a force to be reckoned with, taking victory despite an imperfect race in 13.13. Orlando Ortega was a close second in 13.17, with Sergey Shubenkov third in 13.21.
&ldquo;I was a bit sloppy,&rdquo; said Merritt. &ldquo;I just got off the plane from the US two days ago and I am still jetlagged. I wanted to run much faster but in the end I&rsquo;m happy with a season&rsquo;s best.&rdquo;
In the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, which was not an IAAF Diamond League event, Janieve Russell seized command early in the race, turning for home with a three-metre advantage. Though she slowed over the final barriers, it was a lead she never relinquished, the Jamaican coming home in 54.14, a season&rsquo;s best. Denmark&rsquo;s Sara Petersen took second in 54.35, with South Africa&rsquo;s Wenda Nel Theron third in 54.58.
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF

Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands and Hellen Obiri of Kenya lit up the middle distance events at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rome on Thursday night (8), turning in a pair stunning performances to set world-leading times in their respective events at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea. 

Fireworks by Hassan and Obiri in Rome – IAAF Diamond League

Earlier this year, Aries Merritt won his second US indoor 60m hurdles title, clocking a season&rsquo;s best of 7.51 in Albuquerque. His first national victory had also come in the city in February 2012 when he timed his still-standing PB of 7.43.
In between that pair of titles, Merritt experienced both the highest of highs possible in the sport, as well as some of the lowest of lows that life itself could throw at him. Yet Merritt, now 31 and training at the Altis Center in Phoenix, Arizona, cleared every obstacle in his path and kept on running.
Two weeks after taking his initial US indoor title, Merritt sped to 7.44 &ndash; just 0.01 shy of his PB &ndash; to claim the world indoor title in Istanbul. Then outdoors, he lowered his 110m hurdles PB by 0.08 to 12.93 in winning the tough US Olympic Trials.
Merritt backed up that performance with a pair of 12.93s to win the London and Monaco Diamond League races. Then at the London 2012 Olympic Games, he clocked 12.94 in his semi before rushing to a 12.92 PB to claim the gold medal and become the first US man to win the Olympic 110m hurdles crown since Allen Johnson in 1996.
One day shy of a month after his Olympic victory, Merritt closed his 2012 season at the Diamond League final in Brussels &ndash; and the world has yet to see a faster clocking than his still-standing world record of 12.80.
<h3>Running out of steam</h3>
Seemingly, Merritt was on top of the world. Yet he experienced shaky seasons in 2013 and 2014, clocking a season&rsquo;s best of &lsquo;just&rsquo; 13.09 in 2013 and finishing sixth at the World Championships that year. An abbreviated 2014 season produced a best of only 13.27.
&ldquo;It was odd,&rdquo; Merritt recalled. &ldquo;I felt like I just couldn&rsquo;t finish my races like I used to. I just ran out of power.&rdquo;
Yet in 2015, Merritt appeared to be on the way back to his old self, clocking 13.12 at the Prefontaine Classic, then 13.19 for third at the US Championships to earn a place at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015, where he charged to a season&rsquo;s best of 13.04 to claim the bronze medal.
It was a medal-winning performance made more remarkable once Merritt revealed what had been hampering his usually-dominant style: he was suffering from advanced kidney disease. He estimated that the function level of his affected right kidney was 17% in Beijing. He also battled a viral infection.
&ldquo;It was really hard for me the past couple of years, going into Beijing and telling people about the kidney disease,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It got to the point where it was too overwhelming to keep in, so I had to tell everybody.&rdquo;
Four days after taking the bronze medal, Merritt underwent kidney transplant surgery. His older sister LaToya Hubbard was the donor of a healthy organ. But six weeks later, a complication from the surgery required a second procedure.
Merritt ran just twice indoors to start the 2016 Olympic season, but then didn&rsquo;t move outdoors until the last day of April. He clocked 13.24 to win the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Beijing before taking fourth place at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene in 13.51.
&ldquo;But I pulled my groin at Pre and didn&rsquo;t race again until the Trials,&rdquo; says Merritt. &ldquo;I knew I would have to will my way on to the team. I had checked with my doctors at the Mayo Clinic and they didn&rsquo;t want me to go to the Games if I made the team. They were most worried about the threat of the Zika virus and whether or not my immune system could cope with it if necessary.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I just told them I was going to Rio if I made it,&rdquo; he adds with a laugh. &ldquo;Well, I didn&rsquo;t make it &ndash; got close, though.&rdquo;
Merritt ran a season&rsquo;s best of 13.22 to take the dreaded fourth spot at the US Trials, finishing one hundredth behind third-place finisher Jeff Porter.
&ldquo;I felt that if I had made the team, I would have six more weeks to get stronger and get in more training before Rio,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I just needed a little more time. I honestly feel I could have got a medal at the Games.&rdquo;
<h3>Strong start</h3>
When Merritt started his 2017 campaign, he says he was much farther along than in other years. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t get in any fall training in 2016 while recovering from the surgery,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;This year I got in a lot of good training. I&rsquo;m a finesse hurdler and the 110s are such a rhythm-based, finesse event. But I know for sure that I am much farther along in training than starting the 2016 season.
&ldquo;To be honest, I went into the US Indoor Championships with a lot of uncertainty,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;We [Merritt and coach Andreas Behm] hadn&rsquo;t done a lot of speed work, which was unsettling. As I&rsquo;m older now, I haven&rsquo;t done as much speed.
&ldquo;We had done a lot of strength work and conditioning, and we were still in the conditioning phase. I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;Please let it be three rounds so I can run my way into shape in the rounds&rsquo;.&rdquo;
Merritt had opened his 2017 campaign on 4 February in Flagstaff, clocking 7.63. &ldquo;I went to Birmingham and ran 7.70 and it was awful,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I worked on my start and even at the US Indoor Championships, it wasn&rsquo;t the best. But I got it done somehow and I&rsquo;m just glad I came out with the win.&rdquo;
He may have hoped for more, but Merritt led the US Indoor Championships final virtually from the gun and kept lengthening his margin to the finish &ndash; just as he had done back in 2012 at the start of his historic season.
<h3>Return to London</h3>
Merritt already has a few outdoor races under his belt. After victories in Tempe and at Mt SAC, he finished fourth against a quality field at the Drake Relays, clocking 13.44 in tough conditions.
He is already looking ahead to the rest of the outdoor season in general and most especially to this August and the IAAF World Championships London 2017. &ldquo;Of course, London is the big aim,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the scene of my greatest championship performance.
&ldquo;First, I just want to stay healthy and then make the team. After I do that, I want to at least be a contender for a medal. Winning would be the best. But mainly I want to have no injury set-backs and I feel I will do that because I have a much stronger base than in the past few years.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really looking forward to competing this season,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;I want to return to the level I ran at in 2012. I really believe I will run very well this year.&rdquo;
His experiences over the past few years have given Merritt a new outlook.
&ldquo;Even though life may try to limit you, if you put your mind to whatever it is you really want, you can do it,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Even if I missed going back to the Olympics, I&rsquo;m a stronger athlete for all that happened.
&ldquo;I want to be that person who inspires people to always stay positive and fight on. [The doctors] told me I would never run again, [but] I&rsquo;m back running. They told me I would be on dialysis for the rest of my life, but I&rsquo;m not.
&ldquo;I had a kidney transplant, it was successful and I&rsquo;m back doing what I love,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So if you just stay positive and stay focused on something you really want to achieve, you will do amazing things.&rdquo;
Jon Hendershott for the IAAF

Earlier this year, Aries Merritt won his second US indoor 60m hurdles title, clocking a season’s best of 7.51 in Albuquerque. His first national victory had also come in the city in February 2012 when he timed his still-standing PB of 7.43.

Recent experiences have made Merritt a ‘stronger athlete’

Olympic champion Omar McLeod and world record-holder Aries Merritt lead a stellar 110m hurdles field for the 43rd Prefontaine Classic, the third stop of the 2017 IAAF Diamond League series, on 27 May.
McLeod and Merritt are among an all-star quintet that includes the past two Olympic and world champions, all of whom have dipped under the event's formidable 13-second barrier in their careers.
McLeod won Jamaica&rsquo;s first Olympic gold medal in the event last year in Rio, less than three months after winning the Pre Classic by more than three metres in 13.06.
McLeod&rsquo;s speed is clearly one of his best assets. Last April he clocked 9.99 in his first known 100m race, becoming the first man to break both the 10-second (100m) and 13-second (110m hurdles) barriers. He also won last year&rsquo;s world indoor 60m hurdles title in a Jamaican record of 7.41.
Merritt has displayed gold-medal form on and off the track. He won the US indoor 60 hurdles title in Albuquerque this winter for his first US crown since 2012, the only other year he has won a US title.
That year saw Merritt go global in a way any athlete could dream of. After a wind-aided 12.96 for second at the Pre Classic to China&rsquo;s Liu Xiang (12.87w), Merritt never lost the rest of the season. He improved his PB twice in winning the US Olympic Trials, then again in London to become the first US athlete in 16 years to win the Olympic gold. He closed out the season with fireworks, running 12.80 at the IAAF Diamond League final to set a world record that has yet to be challenged.
Times have been tough since, especially in 2015. He earned bronze at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 in 13.04, his fastest since his world record. Merritt achieved it knowing that just four days later he would receive a new kidney to replace one that had become damaged from a rare disease. The donor was his older sister, LaToya. He missed making the US Olympic team last summer, finishing fourth by just millimeters.
The field also includes Sergey Shubenkov, who won the 2015 world title clocking a 12.98 Russian record. Shubenkov has competed at the Pre Classic three times, finishing fifth in 2014 and 2015 and sixth in 2013.
David Oliver, who will turn 35 on 24 April, owns the two fastest times at the Pre Classic. He clocked 12.90 in 2010, then a national record, and 12.94 in 2011. The 2013 world champion will be making his 10th start in Eugene where he has finished no lower than third.
France&rsquo;s Pascal Martinot-Lagarde also has a pair of Pre Classic victories, winning in 2014 and 2015. He is the French record-holder at 12.95 and in 2014 he won the Diamond Race. He is the only French Pre Classic winner in this event since the first edition was captured by Guy Drut in 1975, a year before winning gold at the Montreal Olympics.
Dimitri Bascou earned the Olympic bronze medal last year, the best by a Frenchman in this event since Drut&rsquo;s 1976 gold. He also won European gold last year, the first for his country since 1986.
Britain&rsquo;s Andrew Pozzi capped an undefeated indoor season in the 60m hurdles with gold at the European Indoor Championships. At 7.43 indoors, he is the fastest Briton since Colin Jackson, who still owns the world record at 7.30.
A lane is still to be filled, who meet organisers hope will be taken by Devon Allen, the 22-year-old Oregon star who finished fifth at the Olympics last year. He set his best of 13.03 to win the US Olympic Trials last July at Hayward Field.
Organisers for the IAAF
2017 IAAF Diamond League calendar 5 May &ndash; Doha, QAT 13 May &ndash; Shanghai, CHN 27 May &ndash; Eugene, USA 8 Jun &ndash; Rome, ITA 15 Jun &ndash; Oslo, NOR 18 Jun &ndash; Stockholm, SWE 1 Jul &ndash; Paris, FRA 6 Jul &ndash; Lausanne, SUI 9 Jul &ndash; London, GBR 16 Jul &ndash; Rabat, MAR 21 Jul &ndash; Monaco, MON 20 Aug &ndash; Birmingham, GBR 24 Aug &ndash; Zurich, SUI 1 Sep &ndash; Brussels, BEL

Olympic champion Omar McLeod and world record-holder Aries Merritt lead a stellar 110m hurdles field for the 43rd Prefontaine Classic, the third stop of the 2017 IAAF Diamond League series, on 27 May.

McLeod and Merritt lead stellar Eugene sprint hurdles field – IAAF Diamond League

Jamaica&rsquo;s Omar McLeod, the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 60m hurdles gold medallist and Kenya&rsquo;s 2015 400m hurdles world champion Nicholas Bett head the men&rsquo;s hurdles fields at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene on Saturday (28).
The men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles is not a Diamond Race discipline at the Prefontaine Classic this year but will still attract a lot of attention thanks to the presence of McLeod.
After his win in nearby Portland in March, he opened up his outdoor campaign with a 9.99 100m to make him history's only man under both the 10-second and 13-second barriers, for the 100m and 110m hurdles respectively.&nbsp;
The 22-year old McLeod leads the Diamond race after wins at the IAAF Diamond League meetings in Doha and Shanghai earlier this month.
Among his rivals in Eugene will be the amazing&nbsp;Aries Merritt.
The London 2012 Olympic Games gold medallist and world record holder is returning from kidney transplant surgery just days after winning a bronze medal at last year&rsquo;s world championships in Beijing.&nbsp;
France&rsquo;s&nbsp;Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, 24, has won the last two Pre Classic titles in this event and has a best of 12.95 while USA&rsquo;s 2013 world champion David Oliver, now 34, is a three-time winner of the Diamond Race &ndash; in 2010, 2013, and 2015 &ndash; and a two-time Pre Classic winner with his 2010 victory in 12.90 still standing as the meeting record. Hansle Parchment, 25, is the Jamaican record holder at 12.94, a time that McLeod is aiming for, and he earned the Olympic bronze medal in 2012 as well as winning in Eugene in 2012.
&nbsp;The field is completed by the American pair of Jarret Eaton and&nbsp;Jeff Porter as well as Canada&rsquo;s&nbsp;Johnathan Cabral.
Bett&nbsp;and&nbsp;Jeffery Gibson&nbsp;of the Bahamas will be the focus of many curious eyes in the 400m hurdles, arriving in Eugene as the gold and bronze medallists from last summer&rsquo;s world championships in Beijing., with the latter also winning the Pan American Games title.
Bershawn Jackson, 33, knows the Hayward Field track well as the Pre Classic&rsquo;s only two-time winner in this event, having taken the honours in 2005 and 2009, and the 2005 world champion had his best season for several years and also took the Diamond Race in 2015.
Kerron Clement, 30, also had his best last year since 2010 in 2015, the two-time world champion just missing the bronze medal in Beijing by 0.01 to Gibson.&nbsp;
Another American, 2012 Olympics and 2013 world championships silver medallist Michael Tinsley, 32, is another Diamond Race winner, taking the 2014 title.&nbsp;
Puerto Rico&rsquo;s experienced Javier Culson, Turkey&rsquo;s Yasmani Copello and Switzerland&rsquo;s reigning European champion Kariem Hussein occupy the other three lanes.
Organisers for the IAAF 
2016 IAAF Diamond League calendar 6 May &ndash; Doha, QAT 14 May &ndash; Shanghai, CHN 22 May &ndash; Rabat, MAR 28 May &ndash; Eugene, USA 2 Jun &ndash; Rome, ITA 5 Jun &ndash; Birmingham, GBR 9 Jun &ndash; Oslo, NOR 16 Jun &ndash; Stockholm, SWE 15 Jul &ndash; Monaco, MON 22-23 Jul &ndash; London, GBR 25 Aug &ndash; Lausanne, SUI 27 Aug &ndash; Paris, FRA 1 Sep &ndash; Zurich, SUI 9 Sep &ndash; Brussels, BEL

Jamaica’s Omar McLeod, the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 60m hurdles gold medallist and Kenya’s 2015 400m hurdles world champion Nicholas Bett head the men’s hurdles fields at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene on Saturday (28).

McLeod and Bett highlight men’s hurdles races in Eugene – IAAF Diamond League

It is said that there are no friends in politics, but it seems there is nothing but friends in the hurdles.
That was the impression given, at least, when world leader Omar McLeod, Olympic champion and world record-holder Aries Merritt and 2013 world champion David Oliver addressed the press conference on Friday (13) ahead of the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai.
Proceedings got under way with a question to McLeod about how he is handling the pressure of being the &lsquo;man to watch&rsquo; in the 110m hurdles this year following his world indoor 60m hurdles title and two world leads in his first two races outdoors.
He also became the first sub-13-second sprint hurdler to run faster than 10 seconds for the 100m flat.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no pressure,&rdquo; McLeod responded. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy to be at this level.&rdquo;
McLeod said that the indoor title was &lsquo;a stepping stone&rsquo; to outdoors. &ldquo;You can use it to your advantage, but you&rsquo;ve still got to make the transition to outdoors.&rdquo;
The next questioner observed that three of the top hurdlers in the world must be fiercely competitive, &ldquo;but you all get on very well. How does that dynamic work?&rdquo;
As smoothly, it seems, as McLeod deferring first right of response to Oliver and then Merritt, presumably on the basis of seniority.
Oliver said the 10 obstacles were their main rivals.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always thought that we&rsquo;re not so much racing each other. It&rsquo;s more about the 10 barriers in front of us,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The hurdles are our main competitors. Off the track, I get on with everybody.&rdquo;
Merritt drew a line between on and off the track.
&ldquo;Our main focus is on the barriers. You start worrying about someone else and you lose your focus.
&ldquo;Off the track we can be friends; on the track, it&rsquo;s business.&rdquo;
McLeod&rsquo;s view was that the race was hard enough without adding in personal animosities.
&ldquo;[Being friends] makes it easier,&rdquo; said the Jamaican. &ldquo;The event is hard enough. There are 10 hurdles and eight lanes. It&rsquo;s easier to focus on 10 barriers than it is to focus on seven other people.&rdquo;
Merritt was asked whether his health problems represented an &lsquo;11th hurdle&rsquo;.
&ldquo;After Beijing I had surgery on 1 September,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but not many people know that I had a second surgery seven weeks later. I had a complication; they cut me back open and re-positioned the kidney because I had a haematoma that was actually rushing the kidney.&rdquo;
Merritt said he was &ldquo;months behind my competitors&rdquo; where he usually is at this stage of the season, because he had not been able to resume even light training until December last year. Despite that, he was still &ldquo;running decent&rdquo; and he would try &ldquo;to technique my way through&rdquo;.
&ldquo;I feel like I&rsquo;ll be ready when I need to be,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a struggle. I tried to run an indoor season because the World Indoors were in America, but I had pain whenever my trail legs hits the incision area. There&rsquo;s still slight discomfort.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something my body has to get used to. It&rsquo;s a struggle, but over time it will get better and better. It&rsquo;s different, just something I&rsquo;m going to have to adapt to.
&ldquo;Body chemistry is normal. I&rsquo;m full of energy. I&rsquo;ve just got to try to get my body back to where I was before.&rdquo;
Olympic pole vault champion Renaud Lavillenie was asked whether we can expect a world record from him in 2016, given that it is a special year.
Lavillenie replied that because it was a special year, a world record was not as high a priority.
&ldquo;This year is Olympic year. The goal is not the world record, but the gold medal in Rio,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;My main goal is to be consistent at six metres because that is an area not a lot of others can reach.&rdquo;
Having said that, however, Lavillenie added: &ldquo;The world record is not my main goal, but I&rsquo;m always able to make a good surprise.&rdquo;
Asked whether he had made any changes in preparation for Olympic year, Lavillenie said he had not changed anything major since moving from a 5.10m to a 5.20m pole three years ago.
&ldquo;I went from 6.03m to 6.16m, so it was the first big step.&rdquo;
But he had not made many other changes.
&ldquo;For one year, you don&rsquo;t change anything (much),&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You see what has worked for the past few years. It&rsquo;s better not to make big changes to what you are used to in your training.&rdquo;
Relays are not on the Diamond League program, but there is a men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s 4x100m being run here and two of the men who featured on the Chinese team that took silver at the 2015 World Championships were at the press conference.
Zhang Peimeng said the Chinese aim for this year was to make the Olympic final.
&ldquo;We regarded the success of the relay in Beijing as a miracle,&rdquo; said Zhang, &ldquo;because of our own efforts but also some luck. USA made mistakes and other European teams did not rise to the occasion.
&ldquo;The target (for Rio) is the final.&rdquo;
Len Johnson for the IAAF

It is said that there are no friends in politics, but it seems there is nothing but friends in the hurdles.

Shanghai press conference highlights – IAAF Diamond League

The latest episode in the Legends of athletics, signature edition series is now online and features Olympic 110m hurdles champion Aries Merritt.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AF0dEO3a5DM?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">&amp;lt;br class="k-br" /&amp;gt;</iframe>

The latest episode in the Legends of athletics, signature edition series is now online and features Olympic 110m hurdles champion Aries Merritt.

Legends of athletics, signature edition – Aries Merritt

Nine reigning world outdoor champions are set to flock to Doha, along with some of the sport&rsquo;s biggest stars, for the opening meeting of the IAAF Diamond League on Friday (6).
The meeting in the Qatari capital has traditionally attracted the elite of athletics, and this year&rsquo;s edition is no exception, with 38 champions and 80 medallists from past Olympic Games and IAAF World Championships, indoors and outdoors, expected to compete.
On the men&rsquo;s side, six current or former Olympic champions will be in Doha: US trio LaShawn Merritt, Aries Merritt and Christian Taylor along with Kenyans Asbel Kiprop, Ezekiel Kemboi and Brimin Kipruto.
Fourteen athletes competing have been world champions outdoors &ndash; nine alone last year in Beijing&nbsp;&ndash; and nine have won a world indoor title.
In the women&rsquo;s events, Doha will welcome 18 global champions and 37 medallists.
Kazakhstan's Olga Rypakova and Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown have struck Olympic gold, while 11 have also claimed world titles outdoors &ndash; seven in Beijing last year &ndash; and seven indoors.
The long list of champions includes seven athletes who have grabbed at least one medal at all three major global competitions: local hero Mutaz Essa Barshim, LaShawn Merritt, Aries Merritt, David Oliver and Taylor, along with Rypakova and Campbell-Brown.
&ldquo;Although 2016 is an Olympic year and many medal contenders elected to delay their outdoor debut, I am sure that athletics fans will enjoy another fantastic night on Qatar Sports Club&rsquo;s track next Friday,&rdquo; said Qatar Athletics Federation President Dahlan Al Hamad. &ldquo;Doha Diamond League will be once more the ideal start to the outdoor season with so many great athletes competing and I am sure that many records will be broken.&rdquo;
<h3>Meeting records under threat</h3>
Most of Doha&rsquo;s meeting records &ndash; a competition first held in 1997 &ndash; were set after the IAAF Diamond League inaugerated in 2010. Just four men&rsquo;s records were set before 2010, the oldest being James Beckford&rsquo;s long jump of 8.41m from 1999.
Three fell in 2015, at what was widely regarded as Doha's best ever IAAF Diamond League meeting.
One of those, Pedro Pablo Pichardo&rsquo;s 18.06m leap in the triple jump, is also an IAAF Diamond League record, joining Yenew Alamirew&rsquo;s 7:27.26 in the 3000m, which was set in 2011.
All but three of the current women&rsquo;s meeting records were set during the IAAF Diamond League era. The oldest, Romania's Ionela Tarlea-Manolache's 54.27 in the 400m hurdles, dates back to 1999.
Two fell in 2015, Allyson Felix clocked 21.98 to break the 200m mark and Jasmin Stowers ran 12.35 in the 100m hurdles. Both are also IAAF Diamond League records, joining Hellen Obiri&rsquo;s 8:20.68 in the 3000m from 2014 and Brittney Reese&rsquo;s 7.25m in the long jump set in 2013.
With six in all, Doha is currently tied with Brussels and Monaco as the meeting with the most IAAF Diamond League records.
An ankle injury will force Felix to miss this year&rsquo;s competition but her stellar record of individual wins is set to&nbsp;remain safe.
The US sprinter has amassed 11 victories in Doha, five successive at 400m (another individual record) and three apiece at 200m and 100m.
Like Felix, Tarlea-Manolache won in three different events in Doha (200m, 400m and 400m hurdles) while Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Kerron Stewart and Meseret Defar have emerged victorious in two: the Jamaicans in the 100m and the 200m and the Ethiopian in the 1500m and 3000m.
Eliud Kipchoge, who recently ran the second-fastest marathon of all time, collected four 3000m victories in Doha and one in the 5000m for a total of five wins, the most on the men&rsquo;s side.
The men&rsquo;s record for the most successive wins belongs jointly to US shot putter Reese Hoffa and Norway&rsquo;s javelin thrower Andreas Thorkildsen with four.David Oliver will be looking to equal that record when lining up for this year&rsquo;s 110m hurdles.
Organisers for the IAAF
<a title="Sign up for the Fantasy Diamond Race" href="http://fantasydiamondrace.com/">Sign up for the Fantasy Diamond Race</a>
2016 IAAF Diamond League calendar 6 May &ndash; Doha, QAT 14 May &ndash; Shanghai, CHN 22 May &ndash; Rabat, MAR 28 May &ndash; Eugene, USA 2 Jun &ndash; Rome, ITA 5 Jun &ndash; Birmingham, GBR 9 Jun &ndash; Oslo, NOR 16 Jun &ndash; Stockholm, SWE 15 Jul &ndash; Monaco, MON 22-23 Jul &ndash; London, GBR 25 Aug &ndash; Lausanne, SUI 27 Aug &ndash; Paris, FRA 1 Sep &ndash; Zurich, SUI 9 Sep &ndash; Brussels, BEL

Nine reigning world outdoor champions are set to flock to Doha along with some of the sport’s biggest stars for the opening meeting of the IAAF Diamond League on Friday (6). 