Add another world championship to Nia Ali’s loaded resume.
Add mom, as well.
Ali, a Philadelphia native and Pleasantville High School graduate, won the 60-meter high hurdles by 1-100th of a second at the IAAF World Championships in Portland, Ore., and came within 2-100ths of her personal-best time.
It was her second consecutive indoor world title, following two years after she won the 2014 championship with a 7.80 in Sopot, Poland.
And she did it soon after having a child, a little boy named titus.
Ali ran 7.91 in the trials and went into the final significantly behind Americans Kendra Harrison and Brianna Rollins, who ran 7.81 and 7.82 in the trials.
But the final was a different story.
Using a 0.137 reaction time, Ali got out fast and crossed the line in 7.81, 1-100th of a second ahead of Rollins, with Harrison never in the race. Ali’s time was No. 3 in the world this year, behind Rollins (7.76) and Harrison (7.77).
“I’m so overwhelmed,” Ali said, holding Titus while talking to reporters covering the meet in Eugene. “I’m so happy my son and my family got to see me win. Titus probably won’t remember these moments, but it means a lot to me.”
Ali is only the second woman to win consecutive high hurdles titles in the world indoor championships, a meet that began in Paris in 1985.
American LoLo Jones won in 2008 and 2010.
Ali won in 2014 by 5-100ths of a second over Australian Sally Pearson, who had won the 2012 title in Istanbul.
“In the hurdles, it’s always close. It’s anybody’s race,” Ali said. “I had the best race of my season, and it couldn’t have fallen on a better day.”
Here’s a list of all the indoor high hurdles world champions:
- 2016 … Nia Ali (USA), 7.81
- 2014 … Nia Ali (USA), 7.80
- 2012 … Sally Pearson (AUS), 7.73
- 2010 … LoLo Jones (USA), 7.72
- 2008 … Lolo Jones (USA) 7.80
- 2006 … Derval O’Rourke (IRE), 7.84
- 2004 … Perdita Felicien (CAN), 7.75
- 2003 … Gail Devers (USA), 7.81
- 2001 … Anjanette Kirkland (USA), 7.85
- 1999 … Olga Shishigini (KAZ), 7.86
- 1997 … Michelle Freeman (JAM), 7.82
- 1995 … Aliuska Lopez (CUB), 7.92
- 1993 … Julie Baumann (SUI), 7.96
- 1991 … Lyudmila Narozhilenko (URS), 7.88
- 1989 … Yelizaveta Chernyshova (URS), 7.82
- 1987 … Cornelia Oschkenat (GDR), 7.82
- 1985 … Xenia Siska (HUN), 8.03
“Being a mother and a professional athlete can sometimes be a struggle,” Ali said. “But I can’t take the full credit for this, because I have an amazing support system.”
Here’s the all-time IAAF World Championships 60-meter hurdles performance list:
7.72 … Lolo Jones (USA), 2010 [1st]
7.73 … Sally Pearson (AUS), 2012 [1st]
7.75 … Perdita Felicien (CAN), 2004 [1st]
7.78 … Gail Devers (USA), 2004 [2nd]
7.79* … Sally Pearson (AUS), 2014 [—]
7.80** … Gail Devers (USA), 2003 [—]
7.80 … Lolo Jones (USA), 2008 [1st]
7.80 … Nia Ali (USA), 2014 [1st]
7.81 … Gail Devers (USA), 2003 [1st]
7.81** … Sally Pearson (AUS), 2014 [—]
7.81 … NIa Ali (USA), 2016 [1st]
7.82 … Cornelia Oschkenat (GDR), 1987 [1st]
7.82 … Yelizaveta Chernyshova (USR), 1989 [1st]
7.82 … Michelle Freeman (JAM), 1997 [1st]
7.82 … Linda Ferga-Khodadin [FRA], 2004 [3rd]
7.82** … Lolo Jones (USA), 2008 [—]
7.82 … Brianna Rollins (USA), 2014 [2nd]
7.82** … Brianna Rollins (USA), 2014 [—]
7.83 … Lyudmila Narozhilenko (URS), 1989 [2nd]
7.83** … Perdita Felicien (CAN), 2004 [—]
7.83** … Joanna Hayes (USA), 2004 [—]
7.84 … Gillian Russell (JAM), 1997 [2nd]
7.84 … Cheryl Dickey (USA), 1997 [=3rd]
7.84 … Patricia Girard (FRA), 1997 [=3rd]
7.84 … Derval O’Rourke (IRE), 2006 [1st]
7.84* … Josephine Onyia (ESP), 2008 [—]
7.85 … Yordanka Donkova (BUL), 1987 [2nd]
7.85 … Anjanette Kirkland [USA], 2001 [1st]
7.85* … Sally Pearson (AUS), 2012 [—]
7.85 … Sally Pearson (AUS), 2014 [2014]
* – trials
** _ semifinals
“I’m very happy,” Rollins said. “To be able to share that 1-2 with a good friend is really exciting. (Ali) just had a baby so to see her go out and perform that well is really exciting.”
Ali, by the way, opened her 2016 outdoor season by jumping in a low-key meet in California – the Sam Adams Combined Events Championships at Westmont College in Santa Barbara — and competing in the heptathlon, her first in seven years. She scored 5,779 points, earning an early No. 18 world ranking with a sixth-place finish.
She ran 12.94 along the way in her first outdoor hurdles race, No. 5 in the world. She also went 5-10 in the high jump.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 