Ali favoured, but Jamaicans in 100m hurdles mix

According to 1998 Commonwealth Games 100 metres hurdles champion Gillian Russell-Love, her event will be hotly contested at the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Russell-Love gives American super mum Nia Ali a slight edge in the race for the gold medal, but she isn’t writing off Jamaica’s hopes of a podium place.

Ali, the 2019 winner, is a mother of three.

“Having had three children myself,” Russell-Love said last Friday, “I mean, her support system must be immaculate, impeccable.”

Then she added, “She has a partner who’s also in track and field who understands the demands that are there, but it’s really stunning and remarkable how far she has come.”

Ali’s partner is Canada’s 2021 Olympic 200m champion Andre de Grasse.

She won the US Trials over former world record holder Kendra Harrison and later lowered her personal best in Monaco to a world-leading 12.30 seconds.

Russell-Love thinks Ali’s top challenger is Olympic champion Jasmin Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico. The United States-raised hurdler dominated in 2021 and after a blip last year, she is undefeated in nine races this year.

“But then now,” Russell underlined, “she comes up against this in-form Nia Ali, and this is a girl who is mentally tough, as she has come back from maternity several times and is now running the best and the fastest she has ever been. I don’t think people thought she would have made the US team, and she won it.”

Then the 1995 World Championships fifth-placer summed it all up, saying, “Those two are going to be doing battle and if you’re putting it on somebody, Nia Ali looks insurmountable.”

Despite the might of the Americans and Camacho-Quinn, Russell added, “Jamaica is, however, right there on par with everybody else in this race.”

Though 2022 runner-up Britany Anderson is out with injury, Russell figures Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper, NCAA champion Ackera Nugent and 2015 winner Danielle Williams will battle for medals. A fast start by Williams at a meet in Los Angeles caught Russell’s fancy.

“If she gets that start that she got, it’s gonna put pressure on the rest of them to try to go with her and then, Megan Tapper, she always has a great start, when it counts. That’s going to put pressure on the favourites as well, and they don’t necessarily start well,” Russell-Love said.

By contrast, Nugent started slowly but gained on American Masai Russell and won the NCAA title for the University of Arkansas in June.

“In the NCAA race, Nugent didn’t get out particularly well, but she stayed consistent, and the others made mistakes. They hit hurdles, and that’s what happens,” Russell-Love said knowingly, having won the NCAA title three times herself.

“It could be up for grabs for anybody, because the times are not really that far apart. It’s going to be one of the best races in the meet,” Russell-Love concluded.