'Relaxed' Allen juggles football, track

NEW YORK • American hurdler Devon Allen has said playing in the National Football League is no obstacle in his World Championship ambitions, as he juggles training on the track with running routes on the gridiron.

The two-time Olympian, who finished fourth at last year's Tokyo 2020 Games, seized on a golden opportunity to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles in April as a wide receiver.

Come September, he will be returning to a sport he last played in 2016 during his collegiate days at Oregon.

While a career that combines high-level track with bone-crunching football would strike some as perhaps risky, Allen has shown no signs of fatigue so far.

He produced the all-time third-fastest 110m hurdles performance to beat world champion and compatriot Grant Holloway in 12.84sec on Sunday at the NYC Grand Prix, despite his gruelling schedule.

"The biggest thing for me football-wise is I'm plenty fast enough and strong enough as an athlete, I've just got to start doing football stuff, running routes, catching footballs," the 27-year-old said.

He has four days of organised pre-season team activities with the Eagles - Monday through Thursday - and trains on the track on his days off from Friday to Sunday.

"It made me more relaxed and kind of focused me up in terms of what I'm doing… football and track, trying to balance both, I had to be really cautious about my recovery, my sleep, my diet, everything like that," he said.

With the United States Outdoor Track and Field Championships later this month and the World Championships next month, he plans to ramp down his football schedule - with the full support of his team.

"I don't want to half do it and then July 17th happens and I'm upset and I'm just like 'I should have just focused on football'," he said. "And vice versa."

Only two men - Holloway (12.81) and world record holder Aries Merritt (12.80) - have gone faster than Allen in the 110m hurdles.

He was disappointed not to have snapped the mark after recent results in training but he is confident it will happen soon.

"It's been there," Allen said of his time.

"We've been doing it in training for probably the last six weeks. I thought I was going to break the world record today, so we'll have to wait for another race."

His performance was the highlight of Sunday's meet in New York, with Sha'Carri Richardson beaten in her pet event, the 100m, after finishing second, 0.02sec behind Aleia Hobbs (10.83), while 2019 world champion Christian Coleman won the men's 100m in 9.92sec.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS