IN THE TWO biggest competitions of his young life, Ja’Kobe Tharp crossed the line with a look of shock on his face. The first was his semi at the NCAAs in June, when he set that jaw-dropping WR. The second was in Budapest, where it seemed Cordell Tinch had secured another global title… until the results flashed on the screen, showing Tharp as the World Ultimate Champion.
Perhaps Tharp should stop looking surprised — this feels like a new normal.
At the line, a jubilant Tinch easily held off 20-year-old upstart Bradley Franklin (who joined the sub-13 club in the heats) and thought that surely meant victory. But Tharp was almost hidden, out in lane 8, well out of Tinch’s field of vision in lane 3. He leaned the way every coach teaches, his 12.94 edging Tokyo Worlds champ Tinch by 0.01. Franklin took 3rd in 13.01. They ran into a slight headwind of -0.6.
The WAUC format places no limits on a nation’s entries, and that predictably allowed American dominance in this event. Trey Cunningham placed 4th in 13.08, and the Stars and Stripes might have taken a 1-5 sweep if Jamal Britt hadn’t banged a hurdle and then been disqualified for “knocking down a hurdle in an illegal way.”
The heats were poor predictors of what was to come. Cunningham took heat 1 in a modest 13.18, and Tharp looked out of sorts, scraping into the final at 13.27. In heat 2, Franklin looked like the man to beat, setting a PR 12.99, while Tinch qualified third in 13.14.
“It sounds strange to be the NCAA champion only and then to win the Ultimate Championship, but my coach and I wanted to come out here and get the win — and I did it by a lean,” said Tharp. “If I had lost this race, it would have been the only championship that I have lost this year. I ran as hard as I could from the last hurdle to the finish line to get my way.
“Right now, I am much more excited for my future in athletics, even though I am still going to classes. Can you believe that I did my homework this morning? It was geography, English, the boring stuff. I had much more fun here!”
Tharp’s surprise may have been surpassed only by Tinch’s.
“I thought I did it,” Tinch said. “I’d still like to see the photo-finish, but I can’t complain. This was the first time this year I felt I was running the race the same way I was running all races last year. The Ultimate Championship is about showing the best version of yourself, so I can’t be mad to finish the year with a season’s best.”
Annotated results coming soon.
September 11
110H(-0.6): 1. Ja’kobe Tharp (US) 12.94; 2. Cordell Tinch (US) 12.95; 3. Bradley Franklin (US) 13.01; 4. Trey Cunningham (US) 13.08; 5. Tatsuki Abe (Jpn) 13.24; 6. Rachid Muratake (Jpn) 13.71;… dq. Jamal Britt (US), Jason Joseph (Swi).
Heats: I(0.7)–1. Trey Cunningham (US) 13.18; 2. Jason Joseph (Swi) 13.26; 3. Ja’kobe Tharp (US) 13.27; 4. Tatsuki Abe (Jpn) 13.28; 5. Orlando Bennett (Jam) 13.29; 6. Jakub Szymański (Pol) 13.44; 7. Demario Prince (Jam) 13.50; 8. Jamar Marshall (US) 13.54.
II(0.6)–1. Bradley Franklin (US) 12.99 PR; 2. Jamal Britt (US) 13.05; 3. Cordell Tinch (US) 13.14; 4. Rachid Muratake (Jpn) 13.31; 5. Just Kwaou-Mathey (Fra) 13.33; 6. Enrique Llopis (Spa) 13.37; 7. Tyler Mason (Jam) 13.46; 8. Shunsuke Izumiya (Jpn) 13.85.
