EUGENE, Oregon (July 11) —— Olympic champion Hansle Parchment will beat the home favorites Grant Holloway and Devon Allen in the men’s 110m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships 2022 in Oregon, according to his coach Fitz Coleman. He also revealed that his charge “definitely will be running fast” in Eugene.
The Jamaican enters the world championships this week as the fifth-fastest in the world with a season-best of 13.09 seconds, set to win at the 2022 Diamond League meeting in Birmingham on 21 May, which is ranked behind the four American entrants, Allen, Trey Cunningham, Daniel Roberts, and Holloway.
Parchment also went into the Olympic Games as the 11th best performer in the world last summer and with a slower season-best than Holloway, Allen, and Roberts. Read more: When is the World Athletics Championships 2022 and How to watch it? | Timetable | world rankings | 2022 world list | world all-time list
Consistent Parchment To Peak At The Right Time?
However, the 32-year-old managed to steadily improve on his pre-Games 13.16 seconds best to win the gold medal in Tokyo, and his coach Coleman is again backing him to peak at the right time and come out on top against what is shaping up to be an exciting field.
“He is quite confident about his ability to go there and perform well,” Coleman said in The Jamaica Gleaner.
“He is naturally excited about the whole idea of winning the gold, and he wants to go there and compete intensely and come out number one, and that will definitely be the icing on the cake.”
Holloway, the second quickest ever in the 110m hurdles, heads into the event as the defending champion after claiming the title in 2019, while Allen is the world leader this year with his outstanding 12.84 seconds, which sits No. 3 all-time on the world list.
Entering a competition against two of the three fastest men in the history of the event will take some of the spotlights off Parchment, and Coleman said that could work in his athlete’s favor as he targets his first world title.
“There is no pressure on him because first and foremost, he is not the defending champion,” the veteran hurdles coach added. “He wants what everybody else wants and that is to be number one, and that is the intended purpose going into the championships, and we are hoping that will be the case.”
Along with Allen (12.84), NCAA champion Cunningham (13.00), US champion Roberts (13.03), and Holloway (13.03) who will lead the American charges, Brazil national record holder Rafael Pereira, and Sasha Zhoya of France who both posted season-bests of 13.17 last month, are among the entrants in the quality field assembled in Oregon.
Read more: World Athletics Championships Oregon22 Final entry lists now available
Coleman is expecting a competitive contest.
“It is going to be very competitive because it is a world event, and you are going to have the cream of the global hurdlers there; and therefore, nobody can go there and feel that they have won it,” he added.
“When you have these major competitions, there is always the changing of the guard; people preparing to take over and people knocking on the door, and therefore it will definitely be a humdinger and he is looking forward to it.”
Parchment, who finished second at the 2015 world championships was eighth in the final in London 2017, while he missed the 2019 Championships because of injuries.
He will be accompanied in the squad by Rasheed Broadbell (13.20) and Orlando Bennett (13.28) who were second and third, respectively at the Jamaica National Championships last month.
Holloway Confident About Retaining His Title?
Meanwhile, Holloway, who owns a personal best of 12.81 secs, set also at Hayward Field at the US Olympic Trials last summer, is targeting something fast.
“I’m going to bring my A-game like I always do,” Holloway said earlier. “I feel like I’m in 12.7 shape, just like everybody else.”
Allen hasn’t broken 13-seconds since his blistering time to flirt with the world record at the USATF Grand Prix at Randalls Island in New York on 12 June, but he also thinks he can break the world record on a track he used to call home during his collegiate career.
In the meantime, Coleman, who hinted that Parchment could challenge his personal best of 12.94 seconds from 2014, wasn’t prepared to predict a time in Eugene, but he also believes the improving Olympic champion is in shape to run something quick at the right time.
“I don’t want to give any kind of predictions when it comes down to time, because you are talking about an event that is highly technical and an obstacle course, and therefore, anything can happen,” the experienced coach stated.
“However, what I can tell you is that he definitely will be running fast.”
The World Athletics Championships 2022 at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon, will run from 15-24 July.
The men’s 110m hurdles heats will get going on 16 July with the final slated for a day later on 17 July.
