Former Auburn Hurdler Ja'Kobe Tharp Sets 110m World Record

Ja'Kobe Tharp didn't choose track and field. Basketball cut him, so track became plan B.

That seventh-grade rejection turned into a world record. At the NCAA championships in June, the Auburn senior blazed through the 110-meter hurdles in 12.75 seconds, setting a new world mark and capping his college career with the performance of a lifetime.

"It felt great to know that I can go out there and produce those results just simply by executing," Tharp said. For the Murfreesboro, Tennessee native, execution has become his calling card.

Basketball had been everything to him through high school. But when the middle school team didn't want him, he wandered over to track tryouts only to discover something beautiful: they didn't cut anyone.

What started as a backup plan revealed his real gift. Tharp found success early, but a loss his sophomore year changed everything about how he approached the sport.

"I lost my state championship my sophomore year and I lost because I stopped training as hard," Tharp said. That winter, he quit basketball completely to focus on track, determined never to lose because of his own effort again.

Why This Inspires

Track and field showed Tharp something basketball never could: pure accountability. In team sports, losses can hide in collective failure, but in track, the clock tells the truth.

"If we lose in basketball it could've been somebody else. In track you lose because of you," Tharp explained. "So how do you better yourself to get to that next level?"

That mindset carried him to Auburn, through a stellar college career, and into the professional ranks. He made his pro debut at the prestigious Prefontaine Classic in July, competing against the world's best.

Now he's not just competing with them. He's setting the standard they'll chase.

Tharp brings a chip-on-shoulder mentality to every race. "You tell me I can't do something, I'm going to go out there and do it three times to show you that I can," he said.

As he continues raising the bar in professional track, Tharp wants people to understand the formula behind the flash. "Whatever you put into something, it's going to put back into you," he said. "No matter how long it takes, maybe three years, four years, maybe even a year, whatever you put in is what you're going to get out."

The kid who wasn't good enough for middle school basketball just became the fastest hurdler in history.