From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

After a two-year layoff, Nia Ali is returning to form just in time for the World Championships.

Ali, who graduated from Pleasantville High School in 2006 after starting out at West Catholic in Philly, opens up defense of her 2019 World Championship in the 100-meter hurdles on Saturday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Ali is seeking to become the first woman to win the 100-meter highs at consecutive World Championships since American Michelle Perry in Helsinki in 2005 and Osaka in 2007.

Ali ranks 10th in the world this year with her 12.49 in the semis at the U.S. Championships last month in Eugene, and she’s also 10th all-time in world history with her 12.34 from Worlds in 2019 in Doha, Qatar.

Ali has picked up where she left off after not running a 100-meter hurdles race for 895 days.

Virtually the entire 2020 season was cancelled, and Ali sat out 2021 – including the Olympics – to have a baby with her partner, sprinter Andre De Grasse. It was her 3rd child.

After she won in Doha on Oct. 6, 2019, Ali did not run another 100-meter hurdles race until March 19, 2022, when she opened the outdoor season at the Hurricane Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla., with an eye-popping 12.59.

She matched the 12.59 in the heats at nationals before hitting that 12.49 in the semifinals.

As defending World Champion, Ali only had to prove her fitness at nationals, so she scratched out of the final and comes into Worlds as the No. 8 seed based on fastest 2022 times [and has the 4th-fastest PR]:

She’s raced once since nationals and ran 12.53 at the Diamond League meet in Stockholm late last month. So two of the six-fastest times she’s ever run have come since returning from a two-year layoff.

The 100-meter hurdles trials are scheduled for 2:20 p.m. EST Saturday, with the semis slated for 8:10 p.m. Sunday and the final at 10 p.m. Sunday.

2002 …  PR … All-Time Rank
12.34 … 12.20 … # 1 … Kendra Harrison [USA]
12.35 … 12.35 … #12 … Alaysha Johnson [USA]
12.37 … 12.26 … # 4 … Jasmine Camacho-Quinn [PUR]
12.44 … 12.44 … #29 … Demisha Roswell [JAM]
12.45 … 12.40 … #19 … Britany Anderson [JAM]
12.46 … 12.44 … #29 … Tonea Marshall [USA]
12.47 … 12.47 … #41 … Alia Armstrong [USA]
12.49 … 12.34 … #10 … Nia Ali [USA]
12.59 … 12.32 … # 8 … Danielle Williams [JAM]
12.60 … 12.53 … #57 … Megan Tapper [JAM]
12.60 … 12.60 … #81 … Devynne Charlton [BAH]

Here are the 10 fastest times of Ali’s career:
12.34 … World Championships, Doha, Qatar, Oct. 6, 2019 [1st]
12.44 … World Championships, Doha, Qatar, Oct. 6, 2019 [sf]
12.48 … U.S. Championships, Des Moines, Iowa, June 22, 2013 [3rd]
12.49 … U.S. Championships, Eugene, Ore., June 25, 2022 [sf]
12.52 … U.S. Championships, Sacramento, Calif., June 24, 2017 [2nd]
12.53 … Bauhaus Galan, Stockholm, June 30, 2022 [3rd]
12.55 … U.S. Championships, July 27, 2019 [2nd]
12.55 … U.S. Olympic Trials, July 8, 2016 [3rd]
12.57 … Müller Anniversary Games, London, July 20, 2019 [2nd]
12.57 … U.S. Championships, Des Moines, Iowa, June 22, 2013 [sf]