On August 19th 1981, Renaldo Nehemiah became the 1st person to break the 13 second barrier in the history of the 110m Hurdles. His time of 12.93 seconds improved on his previous World Record of 13.00 set back in 1979. 


Nehemiah is still one of the greatest athletes in the history of the sport and has since transitioned from athlete to agent, having worked with everyone from Kirani James and Allyson Felix to Allen Johnson and Sha’Carri Richardson.


At the recent 2022 World Championships in Eugene Oregon, we sat down with Nehemiah to talk a bit about his history competing and perspective on the sport now. We dive into the origin of his nickname Skeets, his legendary 1979 season as well as discuss the Nehemiah rule which allows athletes to compete as an amateur in one sport while still being a pro in another sport


We also dive into the transition of the sport from amateur to professional in the early 80s and how we can grow the sport now to become more attractive to bring in more fans.


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