BEIJING — There are 10 hurdles on the 110-meter obstacle course where David Oliver earns his living, each one 42 inches high, every one rife with potential for instant disaster.
Today, the Denver East High School grad can become Olympic champion in what is arguably the most unforgiving event in track and field. Oliver and world-record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba are the heavy favorites, especially with former world-record holder and Olympic champion Liu Xiang of China injured.
American LoLo Jones vividly demonstrated the perils of the event in the final of the women’s 100-meter hurdles this week. Jones seemed en route to victory until she clipped the ninth hurdle with her right foot, lost momentum and finished seventh.
“You have 10 opportunities to go into a lapse that can be disastrous,” said Oliver’s coach, track legend Brooks Johnson. “No other event has that, to that degree.”
Jones will have four years to think about stumbling in the Olympic race she seemed so close to winning.
“You hit a hurdle about twice a year where it affects your race, it’s just a shame that it happened on the biggest race of my life,” Jones said. “But it’s kind of like (driving) a car. When you race in a car and you’re going max velocity and you hit a curve, you either maintain control or you crash and burn, and I crashed and burned.”
With Liu injured much of this year, Oliver and Robles have dominated the event. They faced each other twice: Oliver edged Robles in Berlin on June 1 by .01 of a second, and Robles beat Oliver in Stockholm on July 22. Both breezed to wins in their semifinal heats Wednesday, though Oliver was displeased with his form.
“They both are very good at what they do,” Johnson said. “The one who wins is going to be the one who does his thing the best. If David Oliver executes what David Oliver does, better than Dayron Robles executes what Dayron Robles does, he’ll win.”
Since losing to Oliver in his first race of the year, Robles has won eight straight. The 21-year-old native of Guantanamo broke Liu’s world record by .01 of a second June 12, setting the mark at 12.87 seconds. Oliver ran his personal best (12.95) on May 9. Only eight men in history have run faster.
Oliver, 26, was a wide receiver at Howard University and is built now like a strong safety at 6-feet-2, 205 pounds. Robles is 6-3 but nearly 30 pounds lighter.
“Dayron Robles is cat-like, quick, finesse, not a power hurdler,” said Renaldo Nehemiah, who dominated the hurdles from 1978-81 and then played three seasons for the San Francisco 49ers. “David Oliver is more power, takes him a little bit to get going, and then he’s like a freight train. He’s probably a year away from mastering the art form, mastering the psyche (and) being consistent. Robles is running 13.1s effortlessly. Oliver runs 13.1 one round, then comes back and runs 13.3. That’s inexperience, more than anything else.”
In a technique-intensive event in which experience is a huge advantage and older athletes tend to dominate, Oliver and Robles are in their third seasons among the world’s elite. Robles beat Liu in his first big European race in 2006, then finished fourth the day Liu set his world record.
Oliver finished 2006 ranked No. 7 in the world and represented the U.S. at the world championships last year in Osaka, Japan. Hampered by a hamstring problem there, he only made it to the semifinals. Robles finished fourth at worlds.
Johnson believes both men are “emerging and developing guys,” with more showdowns after today.
“The hurdles is an old man’s event,” Johnson said. “You have 10 chances to muck it up. You have to have great timing and technique, it has to be automatic.”
The two rivals for gold spent some time together relaxing and shooting baskets in an arcade this week at the Olympic Village.
“We were just playing around,” Oliver said. “He’s a pretty cool guy.”
Robles has been less communicative with the media here.
“My preparation is going well,” Robles said after Wednesday’s heat. “We’ll have to wait and see what happens in the final.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
