Cordell Tinch lived up to his belief that ”I’m one of the better finishers within the 110s.” (KIRBY LEE/IMAGE OF SPORT)
THE TOKYO OLYMPICS meant nothing to Cordell Tinch. In ’21 he was in the midst of a self-imposed 3½-year hiatus from the sport.
“I didn’t watch track,” Tinch said. “I didn’t pay attention. It didn’t intrigue me.”
However, when he inadvertently caught a glimpse of the Games, Tinch made a joke about it with his father. They ended up on a track.
“I always believed I was one of the best athletes in the world,” Tinch said, “but I just didn’t know how to get here.”
He figured it out. On that same Tokyo track, Tinch became the 110H world champion and was the only athlete to dip under 13. He clocked 12.99 as Jamaica took two spots on the podium for the first time. Orlando Bennett crossed the line in a PR 13.08 while Tyler Mason, a 29-year-old who made his first national team, equaled his PR of 13.12.
Ja’Kobe Tharp, the 19-year-old USATF champion, was 6th in 13.31 while 3-time defending champion Grant Holloway was eliminated in the semifinals, placing 6th in 13.52.
“This has been my worst season by far on paper,” Holloway told NBC. “Just never really got clicking throughout this whole year. Nothing sucks more than training really, really hard and still getting the same results when you step on the track.”
For Tinch, this has been a season defined by consistency, with his world-leading 12.87 on May 03 in China one of four legal sub-13 performances.
However, Tinch said, “If I didn’t win this race, running 12.8 means nothing”
Stepping away from the sport, though, meant everything. “I don’t think I would have been able to handle it if I didn’t take that break,” Tinch said. “I’m a firm believer that mental health is a big part of track & field. You can be as talented as you want to be, but if you are mentally fragile, you will not make it anywhere.”
During his break, the 25-year-old was a cell phone salesman and worked in a paper factory in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Within himself, he was able to “find happiness, find peace and then be able to come out here and be the athlete that I’m showing the world.”
Returning to the sport in ’23 with the help of a roommate who secured a college scholarship for him, Tinch made the WC team, but went out in the semis.
In Tokyo, Tinch cruised through his heat in 3rd at 13.31 and improved to 13.16 in the semis. In the final, he could feel that he was neck-and-neck with Bennett around the fifth and sixth hurdles.
“Then I felt myself pulling away and it was just a matter of keeping everything clean and cross the line,” Tinch said. “I believe I’m one of the better finishers within the 110s.”
As for Bennett, he said the silver “is like a catapult. Personally, I’ve always believed that I could do this, so it just shows the world that I actually did it.”
Mason felt relief. “”It took me 11 years to make a team and medal,” he said. “It’s all worth it.”
MEN’S 110 HURDLES RESULTS
FINAL (September 16; wind –0.3)
1. Cordell Tinch (US) 12.99;
2. Orlando Bennett (Jam) 13.08 PR;
3. Tyler Mason (Jam) 13.12 =PR;
4. Enrique Llopis (Spa) 13.16;
5. Rachid Muratake (Jpn) 13.18;
6. Ja’kobe Tharp (US) 13.31;
7. Just Kwaou-Mathey (Fra) 13.42;
… dnf—Jason Joseph (Swi).
(lanes: 2. Kwaou-Mathey; 3. Llopis; 4. Mason; 5. Muratake; 6. Bennett; 7. Tinch; 8. Joseph; 9. Tharp)
(reaction times: 0.148 Tharp, 0.153 Llopis, 0.168 Tinch, 0.176 Bennett, 0.180 Joseph, 0.181 Mason, 0.183 Muratake, 0.203 Kwaou-Mathey)
HEATS (September 15)
I(-0.6)–1. Dylan Beard (US) 13.28; 2. Yuanjiang Chen (Chn) 13.39; 3. Sasha Zhoya (Fra) 13.43; 4. Thiago Dos Santos (Bra) 13.52; 5. Shunsuke Izumiya (Jpn) 13.52; 6. Moyosore Adesola (SA) 13.57; 7. Jakub Szymański (Pol) 13.74; 8. Manuel Mordi (Ger) 14.25.
II(-0.2)–1. Joseph 13.27; 2. Wilhem Belocian (Fra) 13.27; 3. Tharp 13.28; 4. Louis François Mendy (Sen) 13.33; 5. Michael Obasuyi (Bel) 13.54; 6. Mondray Barnard (SA) 13.57; 7. Damian Czykier (Pol) 13.58; 8. Tade Ojora (GB) 13.90.
III(-0.6)–1. Bennett 13.20; 2. Kwaou-Mathey 13.25; 3. Lorenzo Ndele Simonelli (Ita) 13.25; 4. Syuusei Nomoto (Jpn) 13.29; 5. Gregory Minoue (Ger) 13.50; 6. Elie Bacari (Bel) 13.55; 7. Asier Martínez (Spa) 13.63; 8. Oumar Doudai Abakar (Qat) 14.03.
IV(0.0)–1. Llopis 13.22; 2. Zhuoyi Xu (Chn) 13.28; 3. Tinch 13.31; 4. Demario Prince (Jam) 13.31; 5. Eduardo Rodrigues (Bra) 13.45; 6. Job Geerds (Neth) 13.51; 7. Amine Bouanani (Alg) 13.75; 8. Saguirou Badamassi (Nig) 13.77; 9. Richard Diawara (Mli) 13.89.
V(-0.3)–1. Mason 13.17; 2. Muratake 13.22; 3. Junxi Liu (Chn) 13.23 PR; 4. Grant Holloway (US) 13.27; 5. Enzo Diessl (Aut) 13.37; 6. Shirse Tejas (Ind) 13.57; 7. Antonio Alkana (SA) 13.64; 8. Jeremie Lararaudeuse (Mri) 13.70; 9. Ussumani Djumo (GBi) 14.57.
SEMIS (September 16)
I(-0.8)–1. Bennett 13.27; 2. Llopis 13.29; 3. Nomoto 13.30; 4. Beard 13.31; 5. Liu 13.40; 6. Minoue 13.56; 7. Dos Santos 13.58;… dnf—Izumiya.
II(-0.5)–1. Tinch 13.16; 2. Joseph 13.18; 3. Prince 13.22; 4. Simonelli 13.22; 5. Belocian 13.31; 6. Xu 13.34; 7. Diessl 13.64; 8. Rodrigues 13.91.
III(-0.1)–1. Mason 13.12 =PR; 2. Muratake 13.17; 3. Tharp 13.19; 4. Kwaou-Mathey 13.22; 5. Chen 13.32; 6. Holloway 13.52;… dnf—Mendy;… dnc—Geerds.
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