A joke made at Cordell Tinch’s expense by his stepfather sparked the American into returning to the track and could climax with him deposing three-time 110 metres hurdles world champion Grant Holloway in Tokyo.

Tinch, 25, has certainly not followed the usual path to becoming a top class athlete in taking time out from the sport in 2019 to sell mobile phones and work in paper factories amongst other odd jobs.

He has progressed from the 2023 world 110m hurdles semi-finals to be world leader in the event this year and joint fourth fastest of all-time, having clocked 12.87sec in Shanghai.

Tinch says the sequence of events that has led to him lining up for the heats on Monday was initiated on a day of lazing around watching track and field on television with his stepfather Tyler, who he refe

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