In the early hours of this morning, a humble News of American Athletics made people sigh - Ars Merritt, a 35-year-old veteran born in 1985, participated in a bronze medal event of the Athletics Federation Continental Tour in California. In the men's 110m hurdles, St. Michael McLeod won in 13.11 seconds (+1.4 m/s) and 2012 London Olympic champion Ars Merritt competed for the first time in nearly three years, finishing sixth in 13.90 seconds. The current world record in the 110-meter hurdles is the 12.80 seconds he set in 2012, and nine years later he's still racing on the track he loves, only to drop by 1.1 seconds.
In the men's 110m hurdles, the most technical event in athletics, only four people have run in 12.90 seconds so far, they are - Ars Merritt (12.80 seconds), Dai Long Robles (12.87 seconds), Liu Xiang (12.88 seconds), David Oliver (12.89 seconds).
Ars Merritt's most spectacular year was 2012, when he reached the 13-second mark eight times and won the Gold Medal at the London Olympics with a world record of 12.80 seconds. No matter how capable Ars Merritt is, he is like an ordinary wave in the United States, where the track and field stars are like clouds, and it is difficult for him to reach Liu Xiang's attention in China, so I think this is the core reason why he insists on running to the present.
At the 2015 Beijing World Championships, Ars Merritt won the bronze medal in 13.04 seconds at the Bird's Nest, when his kidney function was only 20% of normal people, and on the fourth day after winning the medal, he returned to the United States to undergo a kidney transplant in the hospital, and the kidney donated by his sister Hubbard for him, merritt's reputation as a "kidney fighter" spread throughout the world. However, at the U.S. Olympic Trials in July 2016, Aris Merritt finished fourth in 13.22 seconds and unfortunately missed out on Rio, only 0.01 seconds away from third place.
An interview with Merritt in 2018 can be found on the Internet, saying that he plans to retire after the 2022 Eugene World Championships and hopes to have the opportunity to participate in the Tokyo Olympics. But with Merritt's current state and age, it will be harder for him to storm Olympic tickets this time than it was in 2016. When it comes to his plans after retirement, Merritt is very enthusiastic about saying that he likes to be a coach and is willing to pass on the cutting-edge technology of the hurdles to future generations. Merritt graduated from the University of Tennessee and, according to his circumstances, at most after retiring as a general coach. Now 35 years old, he still feels that it is better to stick to the front line than to retire, and there must be a lot of ideals and real considerations. After checking for a long time, I did not check Merritt's income, and it is certain that liu xiang is not at all an order of magnitude.
Robles' peak was in 2008, when the 21-year-old ran seven times into 13 seconds and twice into 12.90 seconds, setting a new world record of 12.87 seconds at the time and winning the gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games. In early 2013, 110-meter hurdles star Robles announced his retirement from the national team because of his tense relationship with the Cuban national team.
What kind of life Robles lived after retiring, there is little outside coverage, he made a brief comeback in 2015 and 2017 but did not succeed, in May 2017 he made a comeback in Cuban domestic races once 13.66 seconds. During the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Robles' Cuban successor, 24-year-old Orlando Ortega, defected to Spain and has been representing Spain in international competitions for several years.
In March, foreign media reported that Robles had been a coach on the national team before the outbreak of the epidemic, and now Robles and his family own and manage a farm, several rental houses and a restaurant. Robles, who lives in Bahavana, also opened a café, and the owner of the foot is also very moist.
Liu Xiang was officially retired in the first half of 2015, 9 years after running 12.88 seconds in 2006, Liu Xiang really couldn't run before he had no choice but to decide to retire, that year he originally planned to participate in the Beijing World Championships and support the Chinese athletics team again. Liu Xiang's career income is 500 million yuan, and that is 500 million yuan more than 10 years ago.
Liu Xiang has been deputy secretary of the Youth League Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Sports Bureau since 2011, and after retiring in 2015, it is said that he was officially placed in the Municipal Sports Bureau, with an annual income of about 180,000 yuan. Liu Xiang's recent update of Weibo is still relatively high in the daily life of sunshine happiness and good life. Occasionally, Liu Xiang will go on a variety show, and the rumored appearance fee is calculated in 7 figures.
David Oliver, who ran 12.89 seconds in the summer of 2010, did not set a world record, but the "second generation of the hurdles" won the world championship in 13.00 seconds at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. Oliver, 39, graduated from Howard University in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in business administration in marketing, and it is unknown where he works now, there are too many retired track and field stars like him in the United States, and it is good that they can live the life of ordinary Americans after retiring.