GAINESVILLE — World champion hurdler Grant Holloway hails from a little corner of the world with a sizable footprint in track and field circles.
Holloway and fellow Florida Gators hope to stand tall on the Olympic podium in Paris, even if Gator Nation won’t officially show up in the medal count.
If all goes according to plan, Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” could serve as encore to the “Star-Spangled Banner.”
“We dominate,” Holloway told the Orlando Sentinel. “We could be our own country.”
A passport to coach Mike Holloway’s track and field fiefdom requires talent, drive and resilience. Citizens routinely become champions — the best of them Olympic medalists.
Grant Holloway, an eight-time national champion at UF from 2017-19 , headlines a pack of 15 Gators past and present expected to compete in the 2024 Games from Thursday-Aug. 11.
One of eight Olympic medalists coached by Mike Holloway, the younger Holloway hopes to become the sixth to capture a gold medal after he settled for silver during the 110-meter high hurdles when he was upset by Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment by .05 seconds at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
“I’m there to win an Olympic gold,” Holloway said. “Any other medal is fine and dandy, but my main goal is to win [gold].”
The Holloways, who are no relation, arrive to the iconic Stade de France in lockstep. The two have trained together ever since Grant Holloway left Chesapeake, Va., for Gainesville in 2016.
“He’s the main ingredient,” the 26-year-old three-time world champion said of his longtime coach. “We take our wins and losses the same.”
This time of year is winning time for Mike Holloway.
On June 8, his men’s team completed a three-peat at the NCAA Championships with a one-point win against Auburn.
Later in the month, Grant Holloway became the first hurdler in 2024 to run faster than 13 seconds, bettering the mark during two preliminary heats and the finals.
“What he did there it’s unheard of,” Mike Holloway said. “The big thing is we just got to keep grinding.”
Meanwhile, Jasmine Moore became the first woman in American history to qualify for the Olympics in the triple jump and long jump; Anna Hall won the heptathlon ; Grace Stark prevailed in the 100 high hurdles; Malcolm Clemons finished runner-up in the long jump; and 2023-24 SEC Female Athlete of the Year Parker Valby finished runner-up in the 10,000.
Hall, who is favored to medal Aug. 8-9 in Paris, continues an impressive comeback. The 23-year-old broke her foot at the 2021 U.S. Trials and in January underwent knee surgery.
“The plan was to make the team,” Holloway said. “Now we’ve made the team, the plan is to go there and be healthy.”
Hall, the 2022 national champion, returned with a vengeance surrounded determined teammates.
“It’s so inspiring and seeing them work through things,” she told The Sentinel. “We see each other have bad days, good days and can watch how other great athletes handle it — and then you kind of learn from that.”
Moore, who won her seventh NCAA title in June during the triple jump, also could reach the podium, as could boyfriend Joseph Fahnbulleh running in the 4×100 relay.
“This is nothing new. She’s been doing this for a long time,” Holloway said of Moore. “The biggest thing with Jasmine is to get to Paris and believe she belongs.”
If Moore has any doubt, she can look around and quickly feel at home.
“We generally say Gainesville’s our little country,” Holloway said. “We want to go there represent well again.”
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com
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