Keni Harrison’s Expertise Isn’t in Query, However the Timing Typically Is
Keni Harrison has been operating on the high degree for what looks like a lifetime. The American dash hurdler burst onto the skilled scene with a mix of pace and quiet grit. Now 32, she’s skilled nearly each emotion this sport has to supply. From breaking a world report weeks after lacking the Olympic staff in 2016, to claiming Silver and Bronze medals at main championships, she’s been near the highest of the rostrum extra instances than most athletes ever dream of. However one factor nonetheless escapes her: a worldwide Gold medal.
On the Atlanta Metropolis Video games, Harrison reminded everybody simply how briskly she nonetheless is. She clocked a wind-aided 12.30s within the 100m hurdles closing, simply hours after operating 12.44 within the heats. It was sufficient to beat a robust subject that included the likes of Tia Jones and Grace Stark. Whereas the time received’t depend for report functions due to the tailwind, it actually counts for confidence.
That win got here simply two weeks after she completed fourth on the Grand Slam Monitor meet in Miami, operating 12.40 in a race received by Tia Jones. The turnaround confirmed a key trait Harrison has at all times had in her locker: the flexibility to regulate rapidly. Nonetheless, it additionally introduced again the acquainted query that has adopted her for years. Can she put all of it collectively when the stress is highest?
In some ways, Harrison’s profession has been one among sharp highs and disappointing lows. The world report she set in 2016 on the London Diamond League, simply weeks after failing to make the U.S. Olympic staff, was one among monitor and subject’s most iconic moments in latest reminiscence. It confirmed her capability to provide jaw-dropping performances, but additionally underlined a sample that has adopted her since: her greatest typically comes when the stakes are only a bit decrease.
Harrison has made some changes this season in an try to vary that. After a number of years coaching below Bobby Kersee in Los Angeles, she moved on and adjusted her coaching base to Andreas Behm in Arizona. The shift appears to be paying off. Her instances in 2025 have been constant. She opened her season with a 12.70 in April at Mt. SAC, adopted by a 12.40 in Miami and now a 12.30 in Atlanta. These are the form of marks that counsel she is constructing into form on the proper time.
What stands out about Harrison isn’t simply her pace, however her longevity. She has been competing at a excessive degree for over a decade. She has confronted completely different generations of opponents—from Daybreak Harper-Nelson and Brianna Rollins to present stars like Alaysha Johnson and Masai Russell, and continues to be an element. That degree of consistency is uncommon within the hurdles, the place type can disappear simply as rapidly because it arrives.
Nonetheless, the Gold is lacking. Harrison received Silver on the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and in addition has World Championship Silver and Bronze medals. However there isn’t a international title, no time standing atop the rostrum when it issues most. A part of that’s because of the brutal nature of the U.S. trials system, the place solely three athletes can qualify, and the depth of competitors is unmatched. However a part of it additionally comes right down to execution below stress. Harrison herself has spoken up to now about studying to handle her nerves throughout huge moments. The query is whether or not that studying has caught as much as her expertise.
The efficiency in Atlanta exhibits there’s nonetheless lots left in her legs. It additionally reinforces a long-held perception amongst coaches and followers alike: when Keni Harrison is relaxed and assured, she will be able to run instances nobody else can contact. That’s why this win in Atlanta issues. It was a glimpse of what she will be able to do when she’s in the correct headspace. The aim now’s to hold that type into the remainder of the season.
Time continues to be on her aspect. Harrison doesn’t appear to be an athlete winding down. If something, she seems to be in a brand new section, one the place the uncooked starvation of youth is changed by expertise and a clearer understanding of what she must do. Whether or not that lastly results in a worldwide Gold stays to be seen.
