by Larry Eder
RunBlogRun presents
Socialing The Distance with Larry Eder
Featuring Grant Holloway,
World Indoor record holder, 60m hurdles,
2nd fastest 110m Hurdler ever
Tokyo Silver medalist, 110m Hurdles,
defending World Champion from 2019, and
World Indoor Champion, 2022
Originally published Oct 22, 2021.
This interview is one of my favorites. I am reposting this Grant Holloway interview because I wanted you to see how Grant came back from his Tokyo Olympics upset and moved on. In March 2022, he won the World Indoors and he told me on June 12, 2022, that he would be ready to roll come World Championships time. His two rounds in Eugene at the USATF Champs over June 24-25 showed that. Now we will see how he looks at the World Championshps.
Enjoy the interview.
Grant Holloway is one of the most charismatic, entertaining, talented and hard working athletes that I have ever met or observed. His skills over the 60m hurdles and 110 meter hurdles are enthralling! This past winter, Grant broke the three-decade-plus record of Colin Jackson at 60m. This past summer, Grant Holloway ran the second-fastest time in the 110m hurdles (12.81) and made it look so easy.
Just six weeks later, in his only 98 percent race of the year, Grant Holloway showed us that, occasionally, he was human. He took the Olympic silver medal, when Hansle Parchment, the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, 2015 WC silver medalist and 2018 Commonwealth silver medalist, saw a break in Holloway’s perfect hurdling and took the gold from Grant. That’s an Olympic final, one is either all on fire, or someone will catch you.
Grant Holloway, 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials champion, #2 All time, 110m hurdles, Olympic silver medalist, photo by Kevin Morris / @kevmofoto
Showing class worthy of a future all time great, Grant Holloway made no excuses and noted that he will just have to wait until 2024 Paris for Olympic gold. This interview was a lot of fun. Just a normal conversation with one of adidas’ most highly regarded athletes, Grant Holloway is the present and future of hurdling.
Time Stamps:
0:00 –Introduction
0:36 –Competing in Europe after Trials
2:34 –US Trials
3:48 –Feelings during the Final at the Trials
4:52 –The Heat in Eugene
6:00 – Heading to Tokyo
6:44 – Europe after Tokyo?
7:21 – Track Spikes and performance
8:53 – Improvements in your race in the last 18 months
10:21 – Sleeping arrangements in Tokyo
11:53 – How excited are you to go to the Olympics?
12:34 – The Championship Mindset
15:12 – First time you dreamed of the Olympics
17:12 – Making the Olympic team
18:09 – The Relays
19:23 – Internet Problems
20:31 – The relationship between media and athletes
21:59 – Why do you love the hurdles?
22:49 – What kind of kid should go into the hurdles?
22:59 – Is the 110m Hurdles the toughest event?
23:13 – Is the 110m Hurdles the most precise event?
23:26 – How often can you race at your level?
24:49 – If not hurdle, what event would you try?
25:19 – Would you ever try the decathlon?
25:44 – Thoughts on Warholm’s WR?
26:32 – Are rivalries good for the sport?
26:59 – Thoughts on crowds vs no crowds in Tokyo?
27:17 – How important was the Indoor WR?
28:01 – Time spent on Social Media
28:10 – Still gaming?
28:31 – What do you do to relax?
28:53 – Do you have a hype song before races?
29:09 – Fan of Netflix?
29:27 – Passing time on long flights?
29:50 – 4 Top Current Hurdlers
30:17 – 4 Greatest Hurdlers of all time
31:03 – Thoughts on Aries Merritt
32:02 – World Champs 2022
32:15 – Thoughts on the new Hayward Field
32:55 – The crowd in Hungary
33:16 – More health and safety
34:43 – Ending
35:40 – Epilogue
Grant on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Flaamingoo_
Grant on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flaamingoo_/
#adidasRunning,
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