According to Inside the Games, Aries Merritt, Olympic hurdles gold medallist is looking at Tokyo Olympics in 2021 (Tokyo 2020) as his last Games.

Inside the Games

Olympic 110 metres hurdles champion Aries Merritt has said that if he qualifies for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, it will be his last in the sport.

Merritt, who won gold in the event at London 2012 and is the current world record holder in the event, will turn 36 on the second day of the Games if he makes the standard.

Merritt has been diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a rare form of kidney disease, in 2013 after the World Athletics Championships.

He then received a new kidney from his sister LaToya in 2015 four days after winning bronze at the 2015 Championships.

Now he has said, in an interview with Drake Relays director Blake Boldon, that if he makes the team in 2021, it will be his last Games saying, “I’ll be way too old to do another Olympics.”

By the time Paris 2024 begins, Merritt will have just turned 39, ruling out the possibility of making it a third Olympics.

Aries Merritt

@amhurdlestar