From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Pleasantville graduate Nia Ali ran one of the greatest races of her remarkable career Saturday, winning her first U.S. outdoor title in the 100-meter hurdles.

Ali won an Olympic silver medal in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and a World Championship gold medal in 2019 in Doha, Qatar, and World Indoor Championships in 2014 in Sopot, Poland, and in 2016 in Portland, Ore., but the outdoor national title had eluded her in her brilliant career.

But at 34 years old and with three kids, Ali out-raced some of the fastest hurdlers in world history Saturday at Heyward Field in Eugene, winning in 12.37, her 2nd-fastest time ever. She’ll return to the World Championships next month.

https://twitter.com/Track_Gazette/status/1677879164861399042

Ali won 2019 Worlds in 12.34 – No. 12 in world history – but her 12.37 is her fastest since and 4th-fastest in the world this year.

Ali edged all-time World No. 2 Keni Harrison, who was 2nd in 12.42. The race was run with a legal 0.5 tailwind.

Ali’s time is No. 4 in the world this year, behind Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn [12.31 in Los Angeles in May], Harrison [12.35 in the same race] and American Masai Russell [12.36 in Austin in April].

Russell placed 3rd Saturday with a 12.46. Ali, Harrison and Russell will represent the U.S. at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Aug. 19-27.

Her 12.37 is the 8th -fastest in meet history:

12.26 … Brianna Rollins, 2013 [1st]
12.29 … Lolo Jones, 2008 [1st]
12.33 … Gail Devers, 2000 [1st]
12.34 … Keni Harrison, 2022 [1st]
12.34 … Brianna Rollins, 2016 [1st]
12.35 … Alaysha Johnson, 2022 [2nd]
12.36 … Dawn Harper, 2009 [1st]
12.37 … Nia Ali, 2023 [1st]

Ali didn’t race in 2020 or 2021 – COVID wiped out the 2000 season, and she took 2021 off to have her third child. After Worlds in Doha in October 2019, she didn’t run another 100 hurdles race until last March.

Her fastest time in 2022 was 12.49 in the semis of last year’s U.S. Championships. Before Saturday, her fastest time this year was 12.53, which she ran in Gainesville in April and then again in the qualifying rounds in Eugene on Friday.

But she ran 12.43 in the semifinals earlier Saturday – which at the time was her 2nd-fastest time ever – which means she ran two of her three-fastest times ever in the span of 90 minutes on Saturday in Eugene.

Here’s a look at Ali’s top-10 times ever:

12.34 … World Championships [f], Doha, Qatar, Oct. 6, 2019 [1st]
12.37 … U.S. Championships, Eugene [f], Ore., July 8, 2023 [1st]
12.43 … U.S. Championships, Eugene [sf], Ore., July 8, 2023 [—]
12.44 … World Championships [sf], Doha, Qatar, Oct. 6, 2019 [—]
12.48 … U.S. Championships [f], Des Moines, Iowa, June 22, 2013 [3rd]
12.49 … U.S. Championships [sf], Eugene, Ore., June 25, 2022 [—]
12.52 … U.S. Championships [sf], Sacramento, Calif., June 24, 2017 [—]
12.53 … Galan Bauhaus, Stockholm, June 30, 2022 [3rd]
12.53 … Tom Jones Memorial, Gainesville, Fla., April 15, 2023 [1st]
12.53 … U.S. Championships [h], Eugene, Ore., July 7, 2023 [—]
12.55 … U.S. Championships [f], Des Moiners, Iowa, July 27, 2019 [2nd]
12.55 … U.S. Olympic Trials [f], Eugene, Ore., July 8, 2016 [3rd]