Grant Holloway: “The 2022 WDL Final turned my career around”

US sprint hurdles legend Grant Holloway has big aims for the 2025 outdoor season: a fourth successive world title, a second Diamond Trophy and maybe even a world record in the 110m hurdles. 

Ahead of his season opener in Xiamen, the Olympic champion sat down with diamondleague.com to talk about about chasing the world record, his relationship with fellow hurdlers, and a Diamond League moment which changed his career.

How are you feeling ahead of the season opener in Xiamen this Saturday?

It’s always a bit bittersweet. On the one hand, I was enjoying the time off, but now it’s like, all right, let’s get back into it. Let’s figure out ways to go out there and win the fourth consecutive of a world title in Tokyo come September. I’m excited for the challenge. My team is excited for the challenge. 

What kind of times can we expect from you in Xiamen and Shanghai/Keqiao?

Obviously, we all know sub-13 is my nickname, so I want to continue just that tradition of running sub-13s. I know it’s April, I know it’s early, but I always try to get in that shape early and then try to maintain that as long as possible. If I start the season off at 13.2 or 13.1, the goal is to just to keep dropping. So as long as there are signs of consistency, I’m going to be fine. But I know that it’s going to be another world-class field at both Chinese meetings.

You’ve already signed up for four Wanda Diamond League meetings this season. Do you always like to plan your season well in advance?

Absolutely. I am a big planner. I am a creature of habit. If I can write out all my goals and I can see them every single day, then mentally, I always know what I need to do. So then when we get to the track meet, it’s not like I’m out on a limb. I think that’s the biggest thing for me and my team. One thing I take pride in is that whenever there’s a major on the line, I will always be ready. 

Last year, that was the Olympic Games in Paris. This year, it’s the World Championships in Tokyo. How important is the Diamond League in building up to those majors?

The Diamond League plays a huge role, because these meets are quite literally the building blocks to success. If you show up to these Diamond League races and you’re running quick times and taking out world-class fields – regardless if they’re Olympic medalists, world medalists, world semi-finalists, finalists – then you’re solidifying yourself. So when the biggest stage does come, you can just think of it as another Diamond League race.

You won the Diamond League title back in 2022. How much does it mean to have the Diamond Trophy on your mantlepiece as well as your Olympic and World Championship medals?

It’s nice to have a big old diamond sitting in your house and everybody asking if it’s real! (Laughs). Other than the major championship titles, the Diamond Trophy is the next best thing. Rory McIlroy just got his career grand slam in golf, and I always say I have my grand slam in track and field. I’m a multiple world champion indoors and outdoors, an Olympic gold medallist and a Diamond League champion. Not a lot of hurdlers are able to say that they have all of those. 

What does it take to win that title?

For me, it’s all about preparation. When the time comes and if it makes sense for my schedule, we’re going to go out there and we’re going to contend. That’s something that I always take pride in. Early in the season, we’ll take the bumps and the bruises, but later in the season, we want to be able to stand on that inclined Diamond League podium during the winners’ ceremony holding that trophy. 

Are you expecting some bumps and bruises in the first two meetings of this season? You’re up against some of the best in Xiamen and Shanghai: Daniel Roberts, Hansle Parchment, Rasheed Broadbell…

I’ve been on the circuit six to seven years now and not once have I ever had an easy Diamond League race. I think for all the top hurdlers, male and female, there’s no ducking and dodging. We have to be able to do those high intensity reps and not make any mistakes. We have the Americans with me, Daniel, Freddie Crittenden, Trey Cunningham and a new kid on the block, Ja’Kobe Tharp, who’s been making a little noise on the NCAA circuit. But I’m not going to exclude the Jamaicans either: Parchment is an Olympic champion, Broadbell won bronze in Paris. That’s seven or eight people who always have a chance to win. So it’s anybody’s race, regardless of what lane you’re in. You’ve got to be able to show up against the best: day in, day out. 

What’s your relationship like with the other hurdlers?

I have a unique relationship with all of them. The person I’m closest with is Daniel Roberts: We’ve been racing against each other since we were teenagers, so it’s more like brotherly love with him. I was at his wedding, I’m sure he’ll be at mine. With the others, I always say: game recognises game. We are all great hurdlers in our own right. With me, a lot of respect comes from what I am doing on track and all the accolades I have. But if I hadn’t been watching Hansle Parchment when I was growing up, I wouldn’t be half the hurdler I am now. And likewise, someone younger like Broadbell will always want what I have, so I have to work ten times harder to make sure he doesn’t get it. I was sitting in the call room with him once and he said: “Bro, you don’t understand, I used to watch you when you were in college”. And I’m thinking to myself: “I’m not that old!”

Do you have to be a certain type of person to be a great hurdler?

I think we are all missing a few brain cells. To be going over those hurdles at full speed, we all have to be a tad bit crazy. My coach always says: “hurdlers are sprinters with an attitude”. You have to have a bit of an attitude to go over 10 barriers as fast as you can and try not to fall on your face.

Is it always a psychological battle as well? You’ve spoken in the past about having therapists with you as part of your team.

With every athlete, there’s somebody behind the scenes pushing them. I’ve always had my coach and my agent, but after 2021, I’ve also tried to have somebody with me at every meet who is there as emotional support staff. Someone who, if things go wrong, I can cry on their shoulder. Whenever I’ve run my best, I’ve had people in my corner the whole time. I’ve realised that the more people I have around me at a track meet, the better I perform. 

Even for someone as successful as you, there are always more things to achieve. Does it bug you that you still don’t have the world record in the 110m hurdles?

As track and field fans, you guys obviously know that I am fully capable of doing it. But there are so many things that go into it: work, timing, and obviously you want a little bit of the wind at your back, that definitely plays a huge factor. I think this will be a great year to take some shots at it. That’s the main reason why I am still running, still training hard. It’s top of the totem pole. As long as I keep going out there and giving maximum effort, then one of these days, when everything feels good and I have my team and my support staff behind me, I’ll definitely be able to go out there and get it. 

You say it’s top of the totem pole. If you had to choose this year, would you take a fourth world title or the world record?

Definitely a World Championships gold. Later down the line, there’s going to be another Grant Holloway. Who knows what his name is going to be, but he’s going to run faster than 7.27 and 12.79. When my time is up and I hang up the spikes, I can look back at all the medals and titles I have won and that is what I’ll be remembered for. Records are there to be broken. 

Finally, we want to test your memory. Do you remember your first Diamond League meeting?

Oh, yeah! It was 2019, I was 21 years old, I had travelled all the way across the world to Paris…and I got sixth place. Daniel Roberts actually won with 13.07, and I came sixth. Lights got big, and I clobbered the first three or four hurdles. That’s usually something I take pride in: that I don’t hit hurdles! I tell everybody, you know, that first track meet that you travel overseas for is different. It’s a different time of day, you have the jet lag, you’re sleeping in a different bed. When you throw all that in the blender, you come out with 13.22 and sixth place. (Laughs). But I wouldn’t change anything for that race. It sucked in the moment because I am a sore loser. But one thing that that race taught me was: you have to be prepared.

And do you have a favourite Diamond League memory?

When I won the title in Zurich in 2022, I think that was when I turned around my whole career. I was really good before that, but on that day I took out a crazy good field and I was like: this is what good hurdling looks like.  I think I just really flipped the script on myself. The next year, I won the World Indoor tour and I was just running 13 flat all season. By the time I got on the plane to the World Championships in Budapest, I knew I was winning gold. Obviously it would be easy to say 2024 was my best year with Olympic gold. But when you think back, that was the moment I figured out I was really going to be a great. That Diamond League Final in Zurich in 2022 was the race that turned around my career.