Robles – In search of the ‘perfect race’ – Daegu 2011

Daegu, Korea – One phrase kept popping up during the formal part of Dayron Robles’ media conference at Daegu Sports Museum.

“It’s complicated,” the 110m Hurdles World record holder inserted somewhere in almost every answer.

In reality, though, it is all simple. Robles is seeking the perfect race. It is also simple for those of us who watch, he may need something close to the perfect race to win.

For Daegu 2011 will see the first Championship clash of hurdling’s current big three – World record holder and 2008 Olympic champion Robles, former World record holder and 2004 Olympic champion Liu Xiang, and 2011’s fastest man David Oliver. They are also the three fastest men in the history of the event – Robles, 12.87 seconds, Liu 12.88, Oliver 12.89.

“One mistake and you’re dead,” as Robles put it Friday morning. He was actually speaking in the broader context of the event, but it fits perfectly in the specific context of Daegu 2011.

The final here, should all three men make it, will be their first meeting in a final at a global championships. All three were in Osaka 2007, but Oliver failed to make the final which Liu won. Robles was fourth. (All were in the same semi-final, won by Robles from Liu, with Oliver a non-qualifying fourth.)

Neither Oliver, nor Liu ran in Berlin 2009, where Robles failed to finish his semi-final as Ryan Brathwaite took a surprise gold medal. And, of course, we know what happened at the Beijing Olympic Games. Robles won, Oliver was third, and Liu’s breakdown in the heats broke the hearts of 1.5 billion Chinese people.

Robles wants the gold medal here. No doubt about that. He says he has a finite time at the top and he must use it to acquire championship medals.

“I need to win every medal I can. I’m working hard to stay at the top every year.”

Robles is happy to be coming into Daegu on an upswing in form and confidence. He ran his fastest time for the season at the London Samsung Diamond League, his 13.04 repelling the challenge of the USA’s emerging Jason Richardson, Oliver, Dwight Thomas, and the third American in Daegu, Aries Merritt.

Robles said he began 2011 at about “80-90 percent fitness,” but “in the last competition in London, I felt better. It was my best competition of the season. It is better to be coming here getting faster.”

London had added importance, Robles said, because it was his last race before the World Championships and also one year out from the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Each of the big three comes to Daegu with some question marks against their form. Liu has raced sparingly, trading wins with Oliver in the Shanghai and Eugene SDL races, before winning the Asian championship in Kobe.

Oliver is the only one of the three under 13 seconds, with his 12.94 in Eugene (to Liu’s 13.00). But his form has dipped of late and he has lost both to teammate Richardson and Robles.

Robles has kept on winning, but his 13.04 remains his fastest of the year. So what of talk that a World record will be required to take the Daegu gold medal?