Ja’Kobe Tharp Posts 12.75 in 110m Hurdles World Record Bid

Ja’Kobe Tharp put the 110m hurdles world record within reach Wednesday in Eugene, Oregon, running 12.75 seconds in a preliminary race at the NCAA track and field championships. The Auburn hurdler’s mark would lower the existing world record of 12.80 by one twentieth of a second, pending ratification.

That kind of time has rarely appeared outside the biggest stages in track and field, and it would make Tharp’s run the first world record set at the NCAA championships if it stands. The previous standard belonged to Aries Merritt, who ran 12.80 in Brussels in 2012.

Tharp’s 12.75 in Eugene

Tharp said after the race, “I’m speechless. I didn’t mean to,” and added, “I knew going into this meet I would be in really good shape because we started deloading to hit my peak into this meet.” He also said, “It was about executing and doing it.”

He got that execution in a race that moved fast from the start. Kendrick Smallwood of Texas finished second, and Demario Prince of Baylor took third behind Tharp.

Auburn’s opening break

Tharp also said, “I'm always only focused on me,” and, “I knew what I was capable of.” He added, “I knew I had something faster than 13.0 in my legs.”

The run also sits in a short line of American speed. The five fastest times in history were run by Americans, including Grant Holloway in Eugene in 2021 and 2024 and Devon Allen in New York in 2022.

NCAA record company

said on its broadcast that Tharp’s time was the first world record set at the NCAA championships. The only world record currently standing set at the NCAA championships is Kerron Clement’s men's 400-meter short track mark of 44.57 from Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 2005.

For now, Tharp leaves Eugene with the spotlight and the burden of ratification. If the time holds, 12.75 seconds becomes the new line for the 110 meters hurdles and the NCAA championships gets a record no meet had ever produced before.