Grant Holloway: Five things to takeaway from the Olympic hopeful and world record holder's podcast interview

Grant Holloway is one of Team USA’s big gold medal hopes in athletics for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021.

The 110m hurdler is focused on making his big dream of becoming Olympic champion a reality.

“That's the main goal, man!” he said to the Olympic Channel Podcast.

“[But] even before Olympic Games, you got to worry about Olympic trials, one of the hardest races and in the world, especially the United States. But the main thing is man is just executing and being prepared and being ready.”

Here are four more things we learned from his in depth interview with the Olympic Channel Podcast.

Grant Holloway: Becoming a world record holder

Grant Holloway became a world record holder indoors with his last 60m hurdles race of the 2021 season in Madrid, Spain.

“It was really fun, man. You know, I am the main thing that I try to do when I go out there and have fun.”

British Olympic silver medallist Colin Jackson’s world record, set in 1994, was surpassed with a new time of 7.29s.

"As time got closer, I was like, 'Let's just leave it out there on the track'."

"My coach said, 'Add a little gasoline to the fire and just run through the finish line' and I got 7.29."

Grant Holloway: On handling the pressure

Holloway is the reigning world champion in the 110m hurdles. The Olympic title is the only major crown that is still missing from the 23-year-old’s medal collection.

There will be a lot of attention and pressure to deliver on a lifetime’s work.

“I try not to even think about the outside pressure because I know I hold myself to a higher standard than anybody else… from the fans, the spectators, people on my on my staff that take care of my body.

“[It] raises my level of competition all the time. I think the biggest thing is, is when you start to get prepared for those big moments, you make sure you remember when you were at your best and you try to replicate that again.”

Grant Holloway: On visualisation

The world’s most decorated Olympian, American swimmer Michael Phelps, was famous for his dedication to visualisation.

He would even imagine events going badly and how he would react to those situations.

Holloway is also a keen follower of using visualisation techniques. Although his approach differs to Phelps’.

“I usually never try to think about the worst-case scenario.

 "Every rep, every warmup, I envision myself in Tokyo going over those 10 hurdles on the track, I envision myself running through the line, I envision myself holding the flag.

"If you put those positive thoughts in your head and you keep replaying it over and over again, the mind has no choice, when the time comes, but to do that again."

Grant Holloway: On finding balance

Holloway seems to have struck a delicate dynamic between supreme self-confidence in his athletic ability and a humility which sees him help out in his local community.

“It's all about balance…

“You've got to have a little bit of that cockiness to have confidence in yourself. But then you also got to have a little bit of the humbleness just to know, [that] you're coming up in the sport just like everybody else did.

“The biggest thing is, is surrounding yourself with the positivity and surround yourself with a group of people that always care for you through the good, through the good, the bad and the ugly.”