Grant Holloway vs Trey Cunningham: World 110m hurdles medallists to go head-to-head at New Balance Indoor GP

Just half a year ago at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, the USA’s Grant Holloway and Trey Cunningham wowed their home crowd with gold and silver in the 110m hurdles.

Much of the talk before the race was about the potential face-off between reigning world champion Holloway and his rapid compatriot Devon Allen, who had earlier that year set the third-fastest time over the distance in history.

But after a false start sent Allen out of the Eugene final, another challenger to Holloway’s crown emerged as Cunningham flew over the hurdles to take second place and secure an American 1-2 in front of an ecstatic Hayward Field public, with Holloway winning gold. 

On 4 February, both of these world-class talents go head-to-head at the New Balance Indoor GP, part of the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold.

One thing's for sure, you won’t want to miss this one.

A rivalry with the potential to be one for the ages

Holloway has earned the right to call himself one of the greatest of all time. He is already a back-to-back world champion over 110m hurdles (2019, 2022), the 60m world record holder, the world indoor champion and the second-fastest 110m specialist in history.

In fact, the only two titles missing from his resume are Olympic gold, after he finished with the silver medal at Tokyo 2020, and the 110m world record [12.80 set by Cunningham's mentor Aries Merritt in 2012] - both of which he has within his sights for the near future.

“The Olympics [Tokyo 2020] is the past. I went into this season [2022] and told myself I want to win the indoor title and defend my outdoor title, they were my goals this year and that’s exactly what I did,” he told Olympics.com after his victory at last year’s Worlds.

“The world record is definitely in that discussion. I have the indoor one, I just need to be able to get the outdoor one and then of course get an Olympic gold. I feel like those are my last two big ticks on my to-do list.”

At 24, Cunningham is just a year younger than Holloway. Yet his silver medal in Oregon was an announcement of his talent to the wider world following his victory in the 2022 NCAA championships.

This season should see the two once again battle for glory when the World Athletics Championships take place in Budapest in August. And the fact that both are lining up together in the New Balance Indoor GP shows that neither one is afraid to face the other as the new season begins to take shape.

“I think the competition we have in the 110 hurdles brings the best out of us,” Cunningham said about the opportunities he has to race against the best of the world. “It makes us show up every race, because I also feel we don’t duck each other. We’re gonna race no matter what, if it’s gonna rain, if it’s gonna be windy, we’re gonna show up and run.

“That’s what makes the hurdles special, because our race is more about navigating the barriers instead of just going out there and doing an all-out sprint. We’re used to it.”

Holloway and Cunningham: Two athletes with an eye on greatness

Holloway has always been supremely confident in his own abilities and focused on becoming the best hurdler the sport has ever seen. It is an aspect of his personality that continues to shine through, even as he could easily rest on his laurels after season after season of success.

“I really just want to rewrite the whole book. When they talk about the greatest hurdlers of all time, I want it to be me,” he said about his continued drive to win.

“If they talk about 110 hurdles I want my name to pop up. Plus 60m hurdles I want my name to pop up.”

His words contrast with those of Cunningham who is quietly chasing the same dream, but takes a day-to-day approach to achieving his objectives in life.

“I set goals, but it’s more like, ‘How do we get better from the day before?’ It’s not ‘How are we going to be the greatest person in 10 years?’ Because if I do get better than I did the day before, eventually it will be the greatest,” he told us.

There are of course other hurdlers in the conversation, including Jamaica’s Olympic champion Hansle Parchment who missed out on the World Championships final due to injury. However, with both Holloway and Cunningham in their prime years, it won't be a surprise if this rivalry ends up being the one everyone talks about when they reflect upon the greatest hurdlers in years to come.