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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality |  American | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1988-07-02)July 2, 1988 (age 36) Passaic, New Jersey | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 207 lb (94 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Running | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | 110 metres hurdles | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Bethune-Cookman Wildcats andOklahoma Sooners | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Ronnie Ash (born July 2, 1988)[2] is an Americantrack and field athlete specializing inhurdles. With his 12.99 (+1.2)110 metres hurdles on June 29, 2014 in a semi-final round of theUSA Outdoor Track and Field Championships inSacramento, California, he moved into the prestigious sub 13 club and is currently the17th fastest hurdler in history.[3]
Ash did not finish in the final.[4] Later in the season, Ash was silver medalist at the2014 IAAF Continental Cup,[5] selected to the team because his time held up as the #2 time from the countries that make up the Americas team for the season.[6]
He reached the 2016 Olympic final and was in contention for a medal before stumbling over the final hurdle and falling. He was ultimately disqualified for an illegal hurdle clearance under then IAAF rule 168.7b.
Born and raised inPassaic, New Jersey,[7] Ash began hurdling atKnightdale High School inKnightdale, North Carolina after transferring to the school for his senior year. With virtually no athletic experience, he was recruited by the basketball coach and track coach David Castell. He joined the track team because "I thought I could meet new people, and I guess it ended up working out."[8] He set school records in the110 metres hurdles,300 meters hurdles and thehigh jump. Graduating in 2008, he had the opportunity to run in the2008 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics, where he captured a bronze medal behind futureworld championsJason Richardson andRyan Brathwaite.
Ash did not have high expectations coming out of high school, not planning on attending college, but he received an offer atBethune-Cookman University. At Bethune-Cookman, he won both the 2009NCAA Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship and theNCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship as a sophomore, outdoors over Richardson.[9]
The following season he switched to theUniversity of Oklahoma, defending his indoor championship[10] and finishing third outdoors.[11][12] A couple of weeks later, he finished third at the2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Later that summer he returned to the2010 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics, this time taking gold ahead of thendefending world champion Brathwaite and running sub-13 for the first time, with a 12.98. Thewind was +3.1 mps, well over the legal limit, so the time couldn't count for record purposes, but foretold of his capability.
