{"id":1575,"date":"2012-09-02T10:06:54","date_gmt":"2012-09-02T17:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1575"},"modified":"2012-09-02T23:04:23","modified_gmt":"2012-09-03T06:04:23","slug":"aries-merritt-best-in-berlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1575","title":{"rendered":"Aries Merritt Best in Berlin"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Aries<\/a>He doesn’t get the biggest headlines – those seem to be reserved for Jamaican sprinters Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake. He hasn’t had the greatest individual performance this season – that was easily David Rudisha’s barrier breaking 1:40.91 800 in London. And he didn’t have the greatest performance we’ve seen in several decades – that would be the US women’s record shattering 40.82 relay run at the Games. What Aries Merritt has done however, is quietly put together the most consistent season of high quality performances of any athlete on the planet this year, and perhaps the greatest season any hurdler has ever had! <\/p>\n

For the 13th time this season Merritt lined up to run the 110 hurdles – and for the 7th time this year he crossed the line in a legal sub13 cruising 12.97. That ties WR holder Dayron Robles for the most legal sub 13’s ever run in a season – and he had two others that were wind aided! Six of those races were 12.95 or faster – more than anyone else in history. Throw in a World Indoor Championships title; Olympic Trials win; and the Olympic title – his 12.92 only .01 off the OR – and you have arguably the best session ever by a high hurdler. Think about it, over half of his races have been UNDER 13.00!<\/p>\n

His only "bad" race on the season was a 4th place run in Shanghai where he still ran 13.26 – which by the way was his "slowest" race of the year and his only loss on the track! Incredible quality in an event requiring both speed and technical proficiency! While other athletes are winding down and their performances begin to reflect the long season, Merritt is still running at an Olympian level, as only Allen Johnson (12.95 in Atlanta), Liu Xiang (12.91 in Athens), and Dayron Robles 12.93 in Beijing) have run faster in the Games themselves than Merritt did today in Berlin! He’s simply having one outstanding season! <\/p>\n

The rest of the meet was good, but showing the signs of the end of the year. Many of the sport\u2019s top stars have either headed home or are waiting to run in Brussels later in the week in the second half of the Diamond League final. Robert Harting did have a nice discus series with a winning throw of 67.40m\/221′ 1.5". Young half miler Mohammed Aman continues to crank out quality runs this time winning in 1:43.62 – this kid is a stud! Finally, I have to mention that in a 1500 won in 3:33.11 by Nixon Chepseba, American German Fernandez got a huge PR with his 3:34.60 in 7th place – perhaps signaling that he is beyond his injury woes and ready to fulfill his early promise. Most performances however reflected the turning of the calendar to September, and clearly we are very close to the off season – which makes Merritt’s performance even more special.<\/p>\n

For fans of the hurdles take note of the names Davenport, Milburn, Drut, Nehemiah, Foster, Kingdom, Johnson, Robles and Xiang. Then consider that record runs aside none ever had a season as complete as Aries Merritt. <\/p>\n

The results of the Berlin meet can be found here<\/a>. The second half of the DL final in Brussels is on Friday. Between now and then there is a meet in Zagreb on Tuesday. So this is a busy week on the track. Enjoy before football sets in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He doesn’t get the biggest headlines – those seem to be reserved for Jamaican sprinters Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake. He hasn’t had the greatest individual performance this season – that was easily David Rudisha’s barrier breaking 1:40.91 800 in London. And he didn’t have the greatest performance we’ve seen in several decades – that would be the US women’s record shattering 40.82 relay run at the Games. What Aries Merritt has done however, is quietly put together the most consistent season of high quality performances of any athlete on the planet this year, and perhaps the greatest season any hurdler has ever had! For the 13th time this season Merritt lined up to run the 110 hurdles – and for the 7th time this year he crossed the line in a legal sub13 cruising 12.97. That ties WR holder Dayron Robles for the most legal sub 13’s ever run in a season – and he had two others that were wind aided! Six of those races were 12.95 or faster – more than anyone else in history. Throw in a World Indoor Championships title; Olympic Trials win; and the Olympic title – his 12.92 only .01 off the OR – and you have arguably the best session ever by a high hurdler. Think about it, over half of his races have been UNDER 13.00! His only "bad" race on the season was a 4th place run in Shanghai where he still ran 13.26 – which by the way was his "slowest" race of the year and his only loss on the track! Incredible quality in an event requiring both speed and technical proficiency! While other athletes are winding down and their performances begin to reflect the long season, Merritt is still running at an Olympian level, as only Allen Johnson (12.95 in Atlanta), Liu Xiang (12.91 in Athens), and Dayron Robles 12.93 in Beijing) have run faster in the Games themselves than Merritt did today in Berlin! He’s simply having one outstanding season! The rest of the meet was good, but showing the signs of the end of the year. Many of the sport\u2019s top stars have either headed home or are waiting to run in Brussels later in the week in the second half of the Diamond League final. Robert Harting did have a nice discus series with a winning throw of 67.40m\/221′ 1.5". Young half miler Mohammed Aman continues to crank out quality runs this time winning in 1:43.62 – this kid is a stud! Finally, I have to mention that in a 1500 won in 3:33.11 by Nixon Chepseba, American German Fernandez got a huge PR with his 3:34.60 in 7th place – perhaps signaling that he is beyond his injury woes and ready to fulfill his early promise. Most performances however reflected the turning of the calendar to September, and clearly we are very close to the off season – which makes Merritt’s performance even more special. For fans of the hurdles take note of the names Davenport, Milburn, Drut, Nehemiah, Foster, Kingdom, Johnson, Robles and Xiang. Then consider that record runs aside none ever had a season as complete as Aries Merritt. The results of the Berlin meet can be found here. The second half of the DL final in Brussels is on Friday. Between now and then there is a meet in Zagreb on Tuesday. So this is a busy week on the track. Enjoy before football sets in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[382,30],"class_list":["post-1575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-berlin","tag-merritt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-pp","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1586,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1586","url_meta":{"origin":1575,"position":0},"title":"Aries Merritt Near Flawless in 12.80!","author":"CHill","date":"September 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Perfection. That\u2019s what I thought of when I would watch Renaldo \u201cSkeets\u201d Nehemiah run the hurdles. Solid out of the blocks. Nerves of steel. barely gliding over the tops of the hurdles. Winning comfortably against the best competition the world had to offer. Back in the day that was Greg\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Bett\"","block_context":{"text":"Bett","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=bett"},"img":{"alt_text":"Aries Merritt","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Aries-Merritt_thumb1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1716,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1716","url_meta":{"origin":1575,"position":1},"title":"TrackCHill End of the Year Awards","author":"CHill","date":"November 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I will continue to work on the series of best ever races (next will be the women's 800) but we are closing in on the end of the year and soon the start of the 2013 indoor season. And that means end of the year lists and rankings, as well\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 12 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 12 comments","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1716#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"Aries Merritt","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Aries-Merritt_thumb1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1561,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1561","url_meta":{"origin":1575,"position":2},"title":"Aries Merritt Back on Track in Birmingham","author":"CHill","date":"August 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The double meet weekend that started Thursday in Lausanne, ended early today in Birmingham - and just as it was in Lausanne, speed was on display in Britain. In a meet with several Olympians in attendance the highlight of the day was turned in by Aries Merritt who is on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Fraser\"","block_context":{"text":"Fraser","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=fraser"},"img":{"alt_text":"Aries Merritt","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Aries-Merritt_thumb.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":200,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=200","url_meta":{"origin":1575,"position":3},"title":"Berlin Match Ups – Men’s 400","author":"CHill","date":"July 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the things that makes track and field exciting is great head to head competition. Nowhere are the head to head battles any bigger than at the World Championships and Berlin will have its fair share. With four weeks to go before the Opening ceremony, I will be taking\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"IAAF World Athletics Final 2008 Day 1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/4\/c\/4\/4\/IAAF_World_Athletics_5f53.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1033,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1033","url_meta":{"origin":1575,"position":4},"title":"A Crowd is Starting to Form in the Hurdles","author":"CHill","date":"April 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s early in the season, and few of the top athletes have made it to the track yet, but the 110 hurdlers are doing what they do \u2013 compete! I love the hurdlers. For starters it\u2019s one of the most exciting events on the track. There\u2019s speed. The technique of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"110 Hurdles\"","block_context":{"text":"110 Hurdles","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=110-hurdles"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hurdle Trio","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Hurdle-Trio_thumb.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":949,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=949","url_meta":{"origin":1575,"position":5},"title":"Will These Athletes Find Success Outdoors?","author":"CHill","date":"March 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Finally, it\u2019s time to head outdoors, where the Olympic season will begin to gear up in earnest. But before I say goodbye to the 200 meter ovals, I want to point out a Baker\u2019s Half Dozen (7) athletes that showed serious growth this indoor season. Good enough that I want\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Bleasdale\"","block_context":{"text":"Bleasdale","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=bleasdale"},"img":{"alt_text":"G Dibaba","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/G-Dibaba_thumb.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1575"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1577,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1575\/revisions\/1577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}