DES MOINES – A breathtaking dive for the finish. A determined early-morning text message to a coach. Independently, they don't share much in common. Sunday night at Drake Stadium, they produced the same result for
Will Claye and
Grant Holloway: spots on the United States' World Championships team.
For Holloway, the dive was the culmination of a five-year pursuit to compete internationally for Team USA. For Claye, his text message was more about legacy than the moment at hand.
Claye already had a World Championships berth in the bag, having taken silver Friday in the triple jump, his premier event. One was not enough for Claye. With three medals apiece at the Olympics and World Championships, only one of which came in the long jump (bronze at the 2012 Olympics), Claye woke up energized at the thought of winning not just one, but two gold medals this fall in Doha, Qatar.
"After the triple jump, I wasn't going to long jump," Claye said. "I woke up this morning, texted my coach that I felt good and wanted to solidify myself as the greatest horizontal jumper of all time. I'm fit for it. I'm built for it. I would do myself, my family, my God, my wife, my friends a disservice if I didn't do both, because that's what I was made to do."
The last time Claye pulled off the double? The 2012 Olympics in London, where he became the first man since 1936 to medal in both horizontal jumps. Claye took silver in the triple jump and bronze in the long jump that year.
No man has ever medaled in both at World Championships. Aside from Claye, only six other men in history medaled in both at an Olympics. One managed to sweep both golds: Myer Prinstein, at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis.
Thanks to dieting adjustments, an emphasis on getting 10 hours of sleep each night, and the simple fact that, having turned 28 last month, he is entering the prime of his career, Claye could be on the verge of historic feats at this year's World Championships. His results this year back that up. In addition to his two silver medals this week, Claye's world-leading triple jump mark ranks third on the world all-time list (15 centimeters behind the world record), while his long jump season best is tied for 13th globally and 17 centimeters off the world lead.
"I've been working with Red Bull, doing blood tests to see where I lack in my diet," Claye said. "Toughest thing to give up was pizza. I cut cheese out of my whole diet. Then cutting out social media and distractions that were taking away from my sleep. That blue light on that phone is very distracting and it takes away from sleep. I had to cut that out.
"I've implemented those things and it's made me feel so much better. When I compete, it's just a different energy I have now."
Just a couple minutes before Claye popped his runner-up jump, Holloway entered the blocks for the 110 hurdles final.
Holloway's endured plenty of heartbreak in his pursuit of Team USA berths. He sat out the 2015 under-20 final, then finished third by five hundredths of a second the following year (only the top two finishers make the U.S. under-20 team). At his first senior USATF Outdoors in 2017, the college freshman missed the team by five hundredths again, as late charges by Devon Allen and world record holder Aries Merritt dropped him to fourth place. Last year, even without a global championships berth on the line, another near miss. Allen once again surged late and snatched the gold medal from Holloway by two
thousandths of a second.
This season was destined to be different. Holloway capped his three-year collegiate career as the only man in history to sweep the indoor and outdoor high hurdles NCAA titles three times in a row, winning No. 6 by breaking Renaldo Nehemiah's 40-year-old collegiate record and running a world-leading time of 12.98 seconds.
Coming to hurdle 10 and fading, though, Holloway felt another shot at a national team slipping away. He could not let it happen again.
"Risk it for the biscuit," Holloway said. "I looked right, and I felt Devon (Allen) and saw Daniel (Roberts) taking off and I was like,
I'm either in third or fourth. That's just my luck, so risk it for the biscuit."
For almost 20 seconds, Holloway remained outstretched on Drake Stadium's famous blue oval. He looked up for a moment, seeing his Superman dive launched him into second place and finally ended the slew of almosts and not quites. Then he dropped his head into his hands, and thought about the five-year journey to this moment.
"When you finally accomplish something you've been working for, and finally get to hold that flag up at the end of the day, it's a blessing," Holloway said.
Holloway admitted he was not himself this week. Outside distractions—turning professional, moving houses, the weight of being hunted on a global level—took their toll in the month and half since the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The evidence was in his times: 13.56 in Saturday's preliminary, 13.56 again in Sunday's semifinal, then 13.36 in the final. Prior to this weekend, Holloway's slowest time of the year was 13.34, and he broke 13.20 in his last seven races, including his professional debut in Budapest, Hungary.
Fortunately, with the World Championships being unusually late this year, he will have plenty of time to rest, sharpen, and take care of whatever else Florida head coach
Mike Holloway determines is best. The two have until September 30 to get ready for a medal run.
It's been a long season for Holloway, though. And when a reporter asked Holloway and Roberts if they were tired, he flashed his signature smile, leaned into Roberts' chest and laughed, realizing there was just one thing he wanted now that one of his dreams was, at long last, a reality.
"I need a glass of wine."
Sunday night is certainly worth a celebratory toast.
___________________
Gators Qualified for World Championships
- Andres Arroyo, Puerto Rico – 800 meters (holds entry standard; team not announced)
- Will Claye, United States – Long Jump, Triple Jump (USATF Outdoors silver medalist)
- Omar Craddock, United States – Triple Jump (USATF Outdoors bronze medalist)
- Yanis David, France – Long Jump, Triple Jump (holds entry standards; team not announced)
- Raymond Ekevwo, Nigeria – 100 meters (holds entry standard; team not announced)
- Grant Holloway, United States – 110-meter hurdles (USATF Outdoors silver medalist)
- TJ Holmes, United States – 400-meter Hurdles (USATF Outdoors silver medalist)
- Kemal Mesic, Bosnia – Shot Put (holds entry standard; team not announced)
- Hakim Sani Brown, Japan – 100 meters, 200 meters (won Japanese titles)
- Christian Taylor, United States – Triple Jump (automatic qualifier – reigning global champion)
USATF OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS MEET INFORMATION (all times Eastern)
| Thursday, July 25 (only finals listed – see Day 1 Recap for complete results) |
| Event |
Place, Gators (Years Competed) – Time / Mark [Wind] | Notes |
| JT (W) |
4. Avione Allgood (2017-18) – 55.29 meters (181 feet, 4 inches) | Season-best mark |
| Friday, July 26 (only finals listed – see Day 2 Recap for complete results) |
| Event |
Place, Gators (Years Competed) – Time / Mark [Wind] | Notes |
| TJ (M) |
2. Will Claye (2010-11) – 17.70 meters (58 feet, 1 inch) [+2.3] | World Championships qualifier; also broke facility record with two wind-legal jumps of 17.68 meters (58 feet, 0.25 inches) |
|
3. Omar Craddock (2010-13) – 17.55 meters (57 feet, 7 inches) [+1.2] | World Championships qualifier |
|
5. KeAndre Bates (2015-18) – 16.85 meters (55 feet, 3.5 inches) [+2.3] |
|
Christian Taylor (2009-11) – FOUL | Wild card qualifier for World Championships (reigning gold medalist); passed final five attempts |
| Saturday, July 27 (only final listed; see Holmes Feature for complete results) |
| Event |
Place, Gators (Years Competed) – Time / Mark [Wind] | Notes |
| 400mH (M) |
2. TJ Holmes (2015-17) – 48.58 | World Championships qualifier; season-best time |
|
8. Kerron Clement (2004-05) – 50.08 |
| LJ (W) |
14. Darrielle McQueen (2015-18) – 6.24 meters (20 feet, 5.75 inches) [+1.3] |
| Sunday, July 28 (^ - denotes semifinal; all other events are finals) |
| Event |
Place, Gators (Years Competed) – Time / Mark [Wind] | Notes |
| 200m (W) |
7. Kyra Jefferson (2013-17) – 23.22 [-1.2] |
| 200m (W) ^ |
7. Jefferson – 22.93 [-1.1] | Advanced to final (automatic) |
| 110mH (M) |
2. Grant Holloway (2017-19) – 13.36 [-0.8] | World Championships qualifier |
| 110mH (M) ^ |
7. Holloway – 13.56 [-1.0] | Advanced to final (automatic) |
| LJ (M) |
2. Will Claye (2010-11) – 8.06 meters (26 feet, 5.5 inches) [+1.7] | World Championships qualifier |
|
10. KeAndre Bates (2015-18) – 7.84 meters (25 feet, 8.75 inches) [+0.7] |
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