Clash of the Titans as Hurdles Racer Groups announced for Grand Slam Track’s inaugural season

It’s going to be a battle between the fastest in 2024 and the best; between Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent (12.24) and Olympic champion, Masai Rusell, and also between a former Olympic champion, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and her successor (Russell) as well as one among the three medalists at the Paris 2024 Olympics following the unveiling, on Thursday, of the highly anticipated hurdles racer groups of Grand Slam track’s inaugural season.

The Racers Groups are organized into short hurdles for men (110m) and women (100m) and the long hurdles, also for the men and women (400m hurdles) with each group featuring four Racers who will face off against four challengers at each meet.

The emerging rivalry between the two ‘new’ kids on the block, Nugent and Russell headlines the women’s short hurdles with Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, the 2021 Olympic champion and bronze medalist in Paris last August needing to prove what happened inside the Stade de France on August 10, 2024 was just a one-off.

Former World indoor 60m hurdles champion, Cyréna Samba-Mayela is also in the mix and will like to prove she can race longer than 60m to get to the podium.

For the short men’s hurdles, the mice, represented by Daniel Roberts, Devon Allen, Freddie Crittenden, and Sasha Zhoya will fight for supremacy in the absence, as a Racer, of the cat, Grant Holloway, the reigning Olympic champion and fastest man in the 110m hurdles since 2021 when he ran 12.81, just 100th of a second off the 12.80 World record set in 2012 by 12.80.

In the long hurdles, reigning Olympic champion and world record holder, Sydney Laughlin-Verone is the undoubtedly the leader of the pack for the women’s 400m hurdles where the focus will be on whether she can further take the World record (50.37) to a more incredible level, especially with the absence, as a Racer, of the flying Dutchwoman, Femke Bol who is one of only two women who have broken 51 seconds over the distance.

Others named into the women’s long hurdles Racer group are Jasmine Jones, Rushell Clayton and Shamier Little.

For the men’s long hurdles, the battle for supremacy as a Racer will be among the quartet of Clément Ducos, Caleb Dean, Alison dos Santos, and Roshawn Clarke.

There is neither Rai Benjamin, the reigning Olympic champion and the second fastest man in history over the distance nor Karsten Warholm, the only man who has broken 46 seconds (45.94 ) in the event and who has won the World title thrice in the event.