At first glance, Grant Holloway’s 2025 indoor season looked like another victory lap. Gold medal at the USATF Indoor Championships in Boston? Check. World lead with a 7.36-second 60m hurdles performance? Check. Undefeated streak still intact, including a third straight gold at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing with a 7.42-second finish? Of course.  But as it turns out, the real story wasn’t what fans saw on the track—it was what they didn’t see. Behind all the wins and flawless finishes, Holloway was battling something far more personal that nearly shut everything down before the season started.

Well, on April 17th, Grant Holloway pulled back the curtain during an episode of Beyond The Records, the podcast he co-hosts with Olympic legends Noah Lyles and Rai Benjamin. It was there that Holloway opened up about the knee injury that started all the way back in the weight room. “I had 435 front squats on my back… and I could literally hear my knee kind of like popping as I was going down,” he shared.

Sounds intense, right? But it gets worse—“Thirty minutes later, my knee swelled up like a balloon.” But in the Boston race? Well, he was still running strong. Holloway admitted to racing with Kinesio tape on his knee just to manage the swelling. “No excuses,” he said, “but I think I was kind of guarding that knee… and I think that kind of played a huge part in what this indoor season was for me.”

But here’s what gets more interesting—Holloway didn’t let the injury slow him down. Despite the pain and discomfort, he still crushed it. His 7.36 in Boston wasn’t just the fastest time of the season—it was the fastest time in the world. And in Nanjing, he continued to dominate, securing his third consecutive world title in the 60m hurdles. It’s mind-blowing to think about.

Holloway’s sprinting at a world-class level, all while guarding a swollen knee. “I know I have a lot more left in the tank,” he said. And if that’s true, then everyone else better watch out. If he’s running like this now, imagine what happens when he’s 100% healthy. But Grant Holloway’s career, plus injuries, have been part of his career since the very beginning.

Grant Holloway took the bull by the horns and never looked back

Grant Holloway’s career has been a wild ride. When he was enrolled at the University of Florida in 2017, he underwent knee surgery to remove floating cartilage. The most unbelievable aspect of this story takes place after the surgery. Four months after his operation, the athlete ran on the track where he obtained a new collegiate record in the 60m hurdles.

He possesses a supernatural ability to return to competition. But after the initial incident, he had more challenges to face. The year 2018 brought difficulties to him when he faced a sports hernia during training. Most individuals would accept medical rest, yet Holloway refused to be kept off the field. After his return, Holloway emerged stronger and faster than his original form, along with an intense drive to succeed.

And then came 2024—the year Holloway finally got what he’d been chasing. During the Paris Olympics, he took home the gold medal in the men’s 110m hurdles race, running at 12.99 seconds. Holloway completed the race before his fellow competitor, Daniel Roberts, who finished at 13.09 seconds. That victory created an enormous milestone that extended past Holloway to his entire athletic journey.

He reached the top position on the podium after enduring all medical challenges and health setbacks. That gold? The medal was more than just an award because it represented all of Grant Holloway’s struggles, including his knee surgeries as well as hernias, during his journey to becoming elite.