Nicholas Hough (born 20 October 1993) is an Australian sprinter and

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

Early years

In 2011, Hough graduated from

The King's School, Parramatta , motto_translation = "Bravely and Faithfully" , streetaddress = 87–129 Pennant Hills Road , city = North Parramatta, Sydney , state = New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinat ...

where he was the School Captain. In his HSC, he came equal fifth in the state in Software Development. Hough was an all-rounder, competing in sprints,

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

, jumps and the shot put. Hough made his international debut aged 16 at the inaugural 2010

Youth Olympic Games The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consiste ...

. Two years later he competed at the

IAAF World Junior Championships The World Athletics U20 Championships is a biennial world championships for the sport of athletics organised by the World Athletics, contested by athletes in the under-20 athletics age category (19 years old or younger on 31 December in the yea ...

winning silver in the 110m hurdles. In 2013 Hough ran his lifetime bests in the sprints (10.39/20.66), securing semi-final places at the World University Games. He was then invited to run in the team for the national 4x100m relay at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Achievements

At the inaugural

2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics ( ta, 2010 கோடைக்கால இளையோர் ஒலிம்பிக் விளையாட்டுக்கள் ms, Sukan Olimpik Belia Musim Panas 2010), officially known as the I Summer ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, Hough won the 110 metres hurdles in a new personal best of 13.37 seconds. He narrowly edged ahead of Dongqiang Wang of China and Jussi Kanervo of Finland to take the gold medal and become the first ever

hurdles champion. Hough also competed in the Pirtek All-Stars Gatorade Bolt meet at the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre on 15 September 2010. The event was a promotional visit for the Jamaican Sprint King

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight-ti ...

, and took place on the 10th anniversary of the Sydney Olympics. Nick won the David Baxter memorial 100m in a time of 10.62s, half a second quicker than the fastest men in football, Lachie Turner, John Grant and

Jarryd Hayne Jarryd Lee Hayne (born 15 February 1988) is a former professional rugby league footballer who also briefly played American football and rugby union sevens. Hayne began his career in 2006 as a er for the Parramatta Eels, winning the NRL's Dal ...

, the fastest of whom clocked 11.10s on the night. In 2014 he was a member of the Australian

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

team, to represent Australia at

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Hough placed 4th in the final of the 110m hurdles, and achieved a personal best. In the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Hough placed 3rd taking the bronze medal and achieved personal best for the Men's 110m hurdles. Hough qualified for the

Tokyo 2020 Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. He came third in his Men's 110m hurdles heat with a time of 13:57 and therefore qualified for the semi-final. In the semi-final Hough ran seventh with a time of 13:88, half a second behind the semi-final winner and eventual bronze medallist Ronald Levy from Jamaica. Hough is currently studying a combined degree of Bachelor of Information Technology and Bachelor of Laws at Sydney University.

Achievements

References

External links

* 1993 births Living people Australian male sprinters Australian male hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Australian Athletics Championships winners Youth Olympic gold medalists for Australia Youth Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia 21st-century Australian people Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes from Sydney Sportsmen from New South Wales People educated at The King's School, Parramatta {{Australia-athletics-bio-stub