by Deji Ogeyingbo
Cordell Tinch Runs 12.87 in Shanghai, Moves to Equal 4th All-Time as Hurdles Field Opens Up
By Saturday night in Keqiao, it was clear the men’s 110m hurdles season might not go the way anyone expected. While most had eyes on reigning stars like Mondo Duplantis and Kishane Thompson as the headliners, it was 24-year-old Cordell Tinch who delivered the headline performance at the Wanda Diamond League in Shanghai with a searing 12.87s, the fastest time ever recorded this early in the year.
Tinch, who already notched his first Diamond League victory in Xiamen the week before, backed it up in a much bigger way. With a legal wind of +0.6 m/s and a tight field that included Olympic and World medallists, the American got out clean, separated early, and never let the lead slip.
Only Aries Merritt (12.80), Holloway (12.81), and Devon Allen (12.84) have ever gone faster. Now Tinch shares the fourth-fastest mark ever with 2008 Olympic champion Dayron Robles, and he did it in May, with three full months still to go before the Olympic final in Paris.
There’s something sharp and composed about the way Tinch races. He doesn’t flinch early, he doesn’t over-rotate over the barriers, and he doesn’t seem to tighten up under pressure. He has the kind of controlled aggression that the hurdles demand, and in Keqiao, it looked like everything came together at once.
That level-headed approach could serve him well in what is shaping up to be a wide-open year in the men’s high hurdles. Grant Holloway, the three-time world champion and olympic champion had a rare mishap in the last race in Xiamen where he didn’t finish in the top 3. He has since confirmed that he’s nursing something. The likes of Trey Cunninham, Sasha Zhoya, Daniel Roberts have also been knocking on the door of late too, with wins in Grand Slam Track and the Diamond Leauge.
It leaves a gap, and Tinch appears more than ready to step into it.
In Keqiao, he wasn’t just fast. He was efficient. His margin over Japan’s Rachid Muratake (13.10) and Jamaica’s Rasheed Broadbell (13.24) told the full story: this wasn’t a race where everyone ran fast and the clock got pulled along. This was one man, clearly ahead.
What makes the performance even more intriguing is how new Tinch is to this stage. He only began racing regularly on the international circuit last season, having walked away from track for a period to play football at the junior college level. Now, in the span of 12 months, he’s gone from a late bloomer to a bona fide Olympic medal threat.
There’s still a long season ahead — including a stacked U.S. Olympic Trials where Tinch will have to deal with a hungry group of contenders fighting for just three tickets to Tokyo— well four considering Holloway gets a bye as the reigning world champion. But if his form holds, and if Holloway remains on the sidelines or short of his best, there’s a serious chance Tinch could go to Tokyo as the favorite.
Elsewhere in Shanghai, Duplantis delivered as expected in the men’s pole vault. The Olympic and world champion cleared 6.11m on his first attempt to secure another win and break the meet record. His early-season sharpness continues to impress. After 6.27m indoors in February, Duplantis took three honest cracks at 6.28m to close out the evening.
Karsten Warholm, the 400m hurdles world record holder, also looked strong. He ran a solo 47.28 to post a world-leading time and missed the meet record by a hundredth of a second. Though the race lacked depth, Warholm’s early form suggests he’s on course for another dominant season.
But the biggest shake-up of the night came on the straightaway, where a newcomer dropped a mark that everyone will now have to chase. Cordell Tinch may have entered the season as a promising name. He’s leaving China as a real contender. And if 12.87 is what he’s capable of in early May, the rest of the men’s hurdles field may want to pay very close attention this summer.
