Sasha Zhoya, presented as a nugget of French athletics but not qualified for the Olympic final at the Paris Games, confirmed his rebound at the end of the season with a final, prestigious victory in the 110m hurdles in the Diamond League final in Brussels on Friday evening.
In 13.16 seconds (wind: +0.4 m/s) in the Brussels cool, he secured his third victory in his last four races, after Rome (13.16) at the end of August and Bellinzona (Switzerland) on Monday (13.22) – ahead of 2024 Olympic champion Grant Holloway.
He took advantage of the other race in this series to lower his personal record by five hundredths, to 13.10 seconds, in Zurich (Switzerland) a week ago.
Without Holloway, who was absent on Friday, Zhoya made up for an average start to the race to cross the line ahead of the Italian Lorenzo Simonelli (13.22) and the American Freddie Crittenden (13.24). A victory in the final of the most prestigious circuit of meetings in world athletics that he appreciates.
“I’ve been watching Diamond League (meetings) for a long time. My first one in a stadium was in 2016 in London, with Bolt in the 200m. And straight away, I said I needed to be in this atmosphere. It’s a total blast,” says the 22-year-old athlete.
– “Need racing experiences” –
“There are always a lot of mistakes. Afterwards, we had to go for the win. There were even collisions with arms, to my right. But that’s normal, on the hurdles, everyone goes everywhere. I got the victory, I’m happy,” he said.
How does the native of Perth (Australia) explain his convincing end to the season, after his injuries at the start of the year and his Olympic disappointment at the start of August? He did not make the cut for the semi-finals on the purple track at the Stade de France.
“I think I just needed some racing experience. This is the first time that, even though I was injured at the beginning of the season, I’m doing a lot more races. I’m gaining experience by racing with much faster guys than in junior, where I was in the lead from the start. Now, it’s decided on the last three hurdles. So, you have to be more confident over the entire race,” Zhoya answers.
“At the second stride, I stumbled a little. It put me under a bit of stress, but now that I have had these racing experiences, I can be confident in my second part of the race. I know that I can catch up with the others and that is what happened,” he illustrates with his evening race.
– “Hurt everywhere, all the time” –
“At the start of the season, I was injured everywhere, all the time. At the end of the season, I had no injuries. So, I can really enjoy myself and express myself as I want,” he continues.
Will avoiding injuries be one of his priorities next season?
“I already do everything I can to not get injured, but sometimes when you push your body to 110%, when you make small technical changes, it can break down. You can’t avoid injuries. If injuries want to get you, they will get you,” Zhoya believes.
“It was the case this year, last year, and the year before that too… But as I’m growing and learning new tricks, how to get over the barriers (of 106 cm instead of 99 cm in junior, editor’s note) and all that, it’s a bit normal, he continues. Now, I’m much more stable on the (hurdles of) 106.”
“I hope to have an injury-free season” in 2025, “but for now, it’s vacation and rest!” says Zhoya, all smiles and already “with destinations in mind”.
vg-es/jld
