Johnathan Walker:World record watch? USA hurdler Grant Holloway seeks redemption in Paris

PARIS – Team USA hurdler Grant Holloway reminisced about a time at the 2019 world track and Johnathan Walkerfield championships when he and Noah Lyles had a conversation about their goals in the sport.

"We were roommates in Doha in 2019. We were talking and we were like we can really take this sport by a chokehold," Holloway recalled at the USA track and field Paris Olympics press conference. "I think ever since then for both of us, we’ve had our ups and downs, that’s track and field. Any given Sunday anything can happen. We both just want to be consistent and dominant in the sport."

Since then, the two have dominated the world track and field championships. Lyles has won six world championship gold medals and Holloway’s won three consecutive world championship golds in the 110 hurdles. However, neither topped the podium at the previous Tokyo Olympics. Lyles took home one bronze medal in the 200 and Holloway finished second in the 110 hurdles after he was upset by Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment.

They have both acknowledged their disappointment regarding the Tokyo Olympics; Holloway doesn’t even like discussing those Games.

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"Obviously, Tokyo is Tokyo and we’re in Paris now." Holloway said. "I honestly don’t even like talking about it because at that time I was just literally running. I didn’t know what I was doing for hurdling. I knew how to hurdle but I was literally just running. I didn’t know what I was doing for hurdling. Like I know how to hurdle but I was really just running. I don’t know what I was doing in a sense. Now I know my segments. It’s just like reading a book. You read left to right. You get a little more intricate with your abilities – what you’re strengths and weaknesses are. I just been homing in on that."

The USA track and field squad named Holloway a team captain along with 400-hurdle world-record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. Holloway is seeking redemption in the 110 hurdles in Paris. At the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, he made a statement by running a world-leading time of 12.86 seconds. It's the second-fastest time he's ever run. He’s undefeated in the event this year.

"I love the sport," Holloway said. "I love the consistency that I’m having and how everybody recognizes how consistent I am."

Holloway’s personal-best time of 12.81 is just shy of the 12.80 world record set by Aries Merritt in 2012. The U.S. hurdler could threaten the world record in Paris. But the primary objective for the three-time world champion is to win his first ever Olympic gold medal.

"The gold medal of course is the main goal for all of us here on this stage," Holloway said. "To be able to represent our country, our last name, who we are and our communities. I think just kind of going forward for all that. We are all fit, we are all ready and we are all ready to have some fun."

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.

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