Tokyo Olympics 2021: Nick Hough reaches the semi-final of the men’s 110m hurdles

Nick Hough is rooming with three others at the athletes’ village and he is clearly the odd man out. Luckily he still has time to change that.

Nick Hough understands the pressure of the Olympic Games but he has an added layer looking ahead to the 110m hurdles semi-final.

The Sydney hurdler certainly caught the eye in his Olympic debut but it wasn’t all about his third-placed effort in the heat.

Hough was looking powerful, which is a kind description, as he clocked 13.57sec - which is 0.19sec outside his personal best.

This is relevant because everyone else in his room at the athletes village has done a personal best at these Olympics.

“It’s fantastic to see the team doing so well around me. I’m a bit of a let down in my apartment, everyone else ran a personal best in their heat. I’ve got some work to do for the final,” Hough joked.

He is staying with team captain Steve Solomon, 800m medal hope Peter Bol and 400m runner Alex Beck.

Hough has been a victim of Sydney’s Covid lockdown which affected his preparation.

“I was happy with everything but the start. I haven’t started against anyone for months, I’ve been caught in Sydney with lockdown, and it’s been tougher than I would have liked to prepare for Tokyo,” Hough said.

“That was almost like great training. The ultimate practice against the good guys to set me up for the semi-final.”

Nicholas Hough has reached the semi-final. Picture: Getty Images

“I love championship racing. I’m at my best in these environments. I’m in form and think I can find a personal best in the semi-final and hopefully I can break that national record.”

Pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall, who was at the centre of a Covid scare last week, was the first man out of the pole vault final when he failed to clear a height.

Despite all the distractions Marschall had looked good in qualifying clearing 5.75m but he was unable to back that up and failed on his three attempts at 5.55m.

“No one prepares you for a no-height at the Olympics,” he said. “We will have to sit down and reassess the whole season, the whole situation and use this as a genuine learning curve.

“We must find a way to develop a strategy and a plan to come back bigger and better from this.”

MCSWEYN WON’T ‘DIE WONDERING’ IN MEDAL QUEST

Stewart McSweyn knows there is plenty of room for improvement after getting through the 1500m qualifying round unscathed.

There was lots of drama with several falls in the other heats but Australia’s medal hopeful avoided that by taking up the running and comfortably getting through as an automatic qualifier, finishing third in 3min36.39sec.

It was far from an impressive performance – Britain’s Jake Heyward sat off him and then easily won the heat – but McSweyn knows Thursday night’s semi-final will be a different story.

“Obviously I was kind of surprised no one else wanted to take on the pace but I am in good shape. I am fit. I was happy to do it,” he said.

“I knew on that last lap, I had a quick look at the camera and I knew that I had a lot to give and I thought I would comfortably be in that top six.

“The first round it can be pretty dangerous in the pack, you can get clipped and fall over and I wanted to take my fate in my own hands.

“I know that I need a lift for the semi, I feel like it is there, training is going well so I am going to run what suits me.

“I am going to take it on and if guys beat me they beat me I can live with it but I am not going to die wondering.”

He will be joined in the semi-final by teammate Oliver Hoare who finished third in the opening heat (3:36.09sec).

The US-based college runner knew he had drawn a stacked heat so put himself forward early to stay out of trouble.

“With the heat, you can’t really take anything for granted,” Hoare said. “I knew my heat was going to be hard with the world champion and the world finalist in that heat.

Stewart McSweyn sets the pace in his 1500m heat. Picture: Alex Coppel.

“So I wanted to make it honest and make sure that my fitness will prevail.”

Australia’s third representative Jye Edwards, who defeated McSweyn at the Olympic trials in April, failed to qualify after he was involved in a tangle over the final 200m which saw one of the leading medal chances Marcin Lewandowski fall.

“Absolutely brutal,” was how Edwards described his Olympic debut. “This is obviously what Olympic races are like. I had a good preparation leading in and unfortunately, I couldn’t get it done, I couldn’t execute on the day.

“It is quite frustrating and a pretty messy race too. It is what it is. I thought I was in a good spot earlier, everyone came around, kind of swamped (me) a bit. I didn’t hold my position until after the end. It’s cutthroat, I gave it everything. Pretty disappointed.”

In the women’s 400m heats Bendere Oboya surprisingly struggled, finishing fifth in 52.37sec to be eliminated.

“Not every race is going to be great, this wasn’t a great one,” she said. “I know I wasn’t in bad shape, I’m not going to give any excuse. That’s life.”

WHAT OUR RUNNERS SAID:

Stewart McSweyn

“I’m happy with that, I felt good. You’ve got to take every round, round by round. I went into it ready to run as fast as I could if I needed to. The focus is the semi, focusing on round by round. It felt comfy, I hope I can lift in the next round.

“I feel like I’m coming from the 5km, 10km. If I can make it quick I will take guys on I think. I will run my own race, if the guys beat me doing that fair enough, they’re too good. I accept that. I will try to take it on in the semis.

On King Island’s support: They swapped recess at the school, at the pub they have a parmy down there. A few would have snuck down there.

“I love the support. I see every message. It means a the lo. When I’m on the track I feel like I have the whole King Island population in Tasmania behind me. It has helped me a lot.”

Oliver Hoare in the middle of the pack in his 1500m heat.

Oliver Hoare

Yeah, obviously with the heat, you can’t really take anything for granted. So I’m just running them as best I can for every race coming forward.

“I knew my heat was going to be hard with the world champion and the world finalist in that heat. So I wanted to make it honest and make sure that my fitness will prevail.

“To get that top six, you know, my coach and I talked about making sure every race you finish top three and if you can do that we know how it feels and we can move forward with it.”

Jye Edwards was disappointed to finish seventh in his heat.

Jye Edwards

“Absolutely brutal. This is obviously what Olympic races are like. I had a good preparation leading in. Unfortunately couldn’t get it done, couldn’t execute on the day. It is quite frustrating and a pretty messy race too. It is what it is.

“I thought I was in a good spot earlier, everyone come around, kind of swamped a bit. Didn’t hold my position until after the end. It’s cutthroat, gave it everything. Pretty disappointed.”

Originally published as Tokyo Olympics 2021: Nick Hough reaches the semi-final of the men’s 110m hurdles