Ja'Kobe Tharp
Ja’Kobe Tharp is an American hurdler. He won the 110 metres hurdles at the 2025 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 2024 World U20 Championships. He was a finalist at the 2025 World Championships.
In 2025, he won both the NCAA Outdoor Championships over 110 metres hurdles and the NCAA Indoor Championships over 60 metres hurdles.
Early life
He attended Rockvale High School in Tennessee.Career
He finished runner-up at the NCAA Championships in June 2024, running for Auburn University. He finished the NCAA season with a 13.18 seconds personal best. He achieved that in winning the Southeastern Conference in Gainesville, Florida. This time set a new national U20 record breaking the previous mark set by Renaldo Nehemiah in 1978. Later that month, he won the 110m hurdle final at the USATF U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon.He competed at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru, qualifying for the final with a year world U20 leading time of 13.11 seconds. He won the gold medal in the final with a 13.05 seconds lifetime best time, and a national U20 record over the 99cm hurdles, as well as a 2024 world U20 leading time.
He ran 7.45 seconds to win the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships in Virginia Beach on 15 March 2025. He ran 13.15 seconds for the 110m hurdles to finish second at the 2025 SEC Championships, a time which moved him to fifth on the NCAA all-time list. In June 2025, he also won the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships 110 metres hurdles title in Eugene, Oregon, in a personal best time of 13.05 seconds. He ran 13.17 seconds to place third at the 2025 Herculis event in Monaco on his Diamond League debut on 11 July 2025.
On 3 August 2025, he ran a personal best 13.01 seconds to win the 2025 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon ahead of Cordell Tinch. He was a finalist competing at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in the men's 110 metres hurdles in Tokyo, Japan, in September 2025, placing sixth overall. In December he was one of three finalist for the 2025 Bowerman Award, ultimately won by Jordan Anthony.