USA Olympic trials: David Oliver clocks 12.89 seconds in men's semi-final hurdles

(BEIJING, July 7) -- David Oliver flashed through the 110 meter hurdle qualifier in just 12.89 seconds, helped by a wind speed of 3.2 meters per second, to record his best performance on Sunday at the USA Olympic trials being held in Eugene, Oregon.

The 26-year-old American chalked up the third fastest record to date in the men's 110m hurdles. The only faster hurdlers are Cuban Dayron Robles, who set a new world record at 12.87 seconds on June 12, 2008 at the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic, and China’s Liu Xiang, who posted 12.88 seconds at the Super Grand Prix in Lausanne in 2006.

Oliver finished first with a time of 12.95 in the USA Olympic qualifying final on the same day. Together with runner-up Terrence Trammell (13.00 seconds) and third place finisher David Payne (13.25 seconds), Oliver has qualified to join the US Olympic squad.

Oliver was quoted on the official website of the USA Track & Field as saying: "I just wanted to make the top-three in the finals. I am just happy that I was able to do that and get the win."