Like Amusan, Keni Harrison changes coach in warning to Russell and Nugent ahead of 2025 Athletics season
Former World 100m hurdles record holder at 12.20, Kendra Harrison has changed her coach as she bids for her first global outdoor title.
Harrison has moved from coach Bob Kersee, who trained her to the world record and Diamond League title in 2016 to Andreas Behm, the man who coached Aries Merritt to win an Olympic 110m hurdles gold and break the event’s world record the same year.
The American hurdler is following in the footsteps of Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan who last year moved over to Glen Mills, the man who trained Usain Bolt to multiple world and Olympic titles and 100/200m world records.
The Nigerian has left Lacena Golding-Clarke, the woman who trained her to an unprecedented World 100m hurdles title and world record (12.12) after her disappointing 2024 season in which she failed to make it to the final of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Harrison did not even make it to the Paris 2024 Olympics after finishing sixth at the US Olympic Trials and the 32-year-old is obviously determined not to end her career without a global outdoor title after running in three finals at the World Athletics Championships, finishing second (2019), third (2023) and fourth in 2017.
She was also in the Olympic final but was edged to the gold medal by Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.
The 2018 World indoor 60m hurdles champion obviously believes Andreas Behm who also coached Merritt to eight, legal sub-13 seconds performance and two wind-aided in the high hurdles in 2012 including the 12.80 World record he ran to win the Diamond League title in Brussels, Belgium, is the man she needs to get her dreams actualized.
Both Harrison and Amusan seem to be warning the new kids on the blocks in the event, the reigning Olympic champion, Masai Russell and Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent who topped the world list with the 12.24 she ran post Paris 2024 Olympics, that they are not yet done in the business.
