American hurdler Grant Holloway breaks 60m hurdles world record in Spain

Grant Holloway, the American hurdler, has broken the world record in the 60 metres hurdles event at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old Grant Holloway ran the race in a record-breaking time of 7.29 seconds. The record is pending ratification.

It was a dramatic day in Madrid as Holloway was initially told his time was recorded at 7.32 seconds. Shortly thereafter, it was confirmed that his timing was actually 7.29 seconds.

The previous world record had been set by Great Britain's Colin Jackson. The Brit had set his record in 1994 with a timing of 7.30 seconds.

54-year-old Jackson was delighted to see his record fall at the hands of the young American and encouraged Holloway to aim for going below 7.25 seconds in the future.

"As a fan of athletics, it was great to see Grant break the indoor record," said Colin Jackson. "He’s been so close on a few occasions, so it was only going to be a matter of time. I’m always excited to see history being made. Congratulations Grant, keep improving and go sub 7.25!"

Grant Holloway is the current outdoor 110m hurdles world champion and is one of the big favorites in that event at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

Grant Holloway breaks world indoor 60m hurdles record in Madrid #WorldIndoorTourStunning hurdling from @Flaamingoo_ to clock 7.29 👏📰: https://t.co/zCi4oRJwyr pic.twitter.com/1oM4G3DKP2

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) February 24, 2021

“My name is going to be etched in the record books forever, but the main goal is to continue to have fun.”For record-breaker @Flaamingoo_ "the sky is the limit" ✨

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) February 25, 2021

Grant Holloway is aiming for gold in the 110 metres hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics

Grant Holloway

Grant Holloway won the gold medal in the 110m hurdles at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha with a timing of 13.10 seconds.

The American is among the favorites in the 110m hurdles event at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics (the 60m hurdles is not an Olympic event).

It will be the Holloway's first appearance at the Olympic Games and the American has his sights firmly set on winning gold in Tokyo.

“I’m healthy and I’m happy – physically, mentally and emotionally. I’m just having fun. Getting away from the United States for a whole month is hard right now, so I’m going to cherish every moment, "Holloway stated in a recent interview.

“Don’t get me wrong – I want to win all of my meets, but if I happen to lose (a meeting on the circuit) but I still get to win the Olympic gold medal, then I’ll be happy.”