American Grant Holloway lived up to his pre-race favoritism by charging to victory in the men's 110m hurdles final at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.

Grant Holloway of the United States celebrates after winning the men's 110m hurdles final of Athletics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, Aug. 8, 2024. (Xinhua/Song Yanhua)

The 26-year-old reigning world champion and Tokyo 2020 silver medalist blitzed his rivals to take gold in 12.99 seconds.

His compatriot Daniel Roberts claimed silver in 13.09 and Rasheed Broadbell of Jamaica clinched bronze, just three thousandths of a second further back.

"This was the thing that we were all waiting for," Holloway said. "This is the thing that we wanted to accomplish. Now we can sit back, have fun. I think the main thing for all of us is we can finally sleep."

Holloway has been the standout performer in this event over the past five years with world titles in 2019, 2022 and 2023 to go with his silver at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

He admitted he felt under pressure going into the final despite - or perhaps because of - his recent dominance.

"Obviously coming into this meeting, the nerves and everything's going to be high," he said. "The main thing is just come out here, run each round like you have nothing to lose. The plan today was just to get to the finish line before anybody else. That was the main goal."

Holloway was non-committal when asked if he might consider running other events in the future.

"I'm in an event that I truly do love, but I don't see myself switching," he said. "I don't see myself going somewhere else. I like to compete against the best, day in and day out. That's just my mentality. I think the hurdles is definitely one of the hardest events in track and field, so I just want to be able to stick in that moment, and continue just to show my excellence there."