PARIS: Olympic 110m hurdles champion Aries Merritt said in an interview published yesterday that he believes his world record at the distance could soon be lowered.
“I think that the world record will come down below 12.8secs. Soon,” he was quoted as saying in French sports newspaper L’Equipe.
“Many of us can run 12.9 and a lot are working hard to break the record and and the magic number 12.8,” the 27-year-old American added.
Merritt shattered the previous record of 12.87secs held by Cuba’s Dayron Robles at the final Diamond League meeting last September in Brussels.
Robles set the former world best in Ostrava, the Czech Republic, in 2008, 0.01secs quicker than China’s Liu Xiang in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2006.
Merritt made his season’s debut in the Drake Relays on April 27 but was beaten by five hundredths of a second by Jamaica’s Andrew Riley, who won in 13.43secs.
AFP
