by Stuart WeirDevon Allen won the 110m hurdles in Lausanne in 13.07. Devon was 4th in Tokyo and his performance in Lausanne was spectacular. Stuart Weir caught up with the American after his race.
Devon Allen, winner of Lausanne 110m hurdles, photo by Diamond League AG
The Lausanne 110m hurdles
Olympic champion, Hansie Parchment, was in the field in Lausanne. But it wasn’t his night. He was last in 13.58. His honest summary was: “Disappointed with today´s run, I hit a hurdle early and then was able to catch up with them, but then in doing that I began to run too fast to the hurdle and clipped another one. It´s my first race since the Olympics and it just wasn’t my day”. Ronald Levy (Jamaica) who took bronze in Tokyo was fifth in Lausanne in 13.40.
The winner was Devon Allen, fourth in Tokyo in 13.14 but running 13.07 in Lausanne. That was a surprise to me but not to him! He told me afterward: “I have felt for the last four weeks that I’m ready to run sub 13. I didn’t run as well in the Olympic final as I had hoped. In the rounds, I ran 13.2 easily so I figured I was going to run faster. But that’s the name of the game. Pressure and a great field overall in the Olympic final. So I knew I can run fast tonight and win. That it comes out here, is a great feeling, and winning means a lot for me”.
He admitted too, that he had been inspired by the atmosphere: “The crowd is amazing. The only crowd I experienced this year was in Eugene at the trials, but it was only half capacity. {Lausanne was a sell-out]. The track here is always fast and the atmosphere great. Tonight I forgot about the time and just focused on being clean, running fast, and just going – and stop thinking too much”.
Having started his season late because of injury, he is extending his season with six more races to go and he is confident that he is “going to run pretty quick”.
.The balance between fast and clean
“It’s kinda hard because when you start running as fast as we are, the hurdles come up really quickly. And then it becomes difficult to be clean. Early in the season is easy to be clean but hard to be fast, now but it’s easier to be fast but harder to be clean. But when you can put the two together that’s when you get the fast times and if the records.”
