Two years ago, he was sitting at home with no power on the hottest day of the year, wondering how he would survive. Now, Jamal Britt is the fifth-fastest 110m hurdler in history and just claimed $50,000 as the USATF Tour’s overall men’s champion. The first-ever edition of the Tour couldn’t have produced a more compelling winner.

The 27-year-old has been on quite a tear recently, regularly racing in almost every meet while steadily improving. However, aside from the Diamond League, his focus has been on the USATF Tour, where he has run four races. Only his three best scores were selected, and that was enough to take first place from Jordan Geist.

The two were locked in a battle going into the final day, with Geist ahead after two meets compared to Britt’s three. However, the hurdler competed before the shot-put star and clocked 12.91 (+3.2) to take first place and score 1253 points. That was his second-highest mark across the four USATF Tour events this season. His highest was 1256 at the USATF LA Grand Prix, followed by 1241 at the Miramar Invitational.

It gave Britt a total of 3,751 points, and Geist needed a lifetime-best performance to overcome Britt’s new lead. While he certainly put his best foot forward, the shot-put star fell just short, settling for second place. That has been a theme this season for Jamal Britt as he has run whenever he could.

And it has proved to be the smart choice as Britt has steadily improved his times. He went from a 13.07 in April, his first outdoor meet of the season, to 12.99 in June. Then came the Prefontaine Classic, and Britt really took the spotlight. The American clocked a phenomenal 12.86 to take first. It marked the fifth-fastest performance in history behind Ja’Kobe Tharp (12.75), Aries Merritt (12.80), Grant Holloway (12.81) and Devon Allen (12.84).

To put that in perspective, aside from Tharp’s record-breaking run, only two sprinters since the 2020s have made the top ten. That was Allen (2022) and Cordell Tinch (12.87 in 2025) before Britt ran 12.86 in Eugene. That’s been coming, though, because Britt’s goal is to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Allen Johnson, by winning an Olympic medal.

“I had to get out of the funk,” Britt told FloTrack after the Prefontaine Classic. “Like I said, Coach Allen, and multiple people would say this, but Coach Allen told me that I can be the greatest ever. He was my idol, so when I hear that from my idol, it’s the sky’s the limit.

“So I had to snap out of that funk, actually see the bigger picture, put my head down, and continue to work.”

Winning the inaugural USATF Tour title is another milestone in what has already been the best season of Britt’s career. But for the American, those performances are only stepping stones toward the target he’s set for 2026.

Jamal Britt reveals his ultimate goal for 2026

By the time Jamal Britt ended 2025, he’d run over 30 races but had struggled to showcase his worth. The now 27-year-old podiumed several times but won only a handful of races in his final few, including a DNF at the USA Championships. It meant he didn’t make the cut for the 2025 World Championships, a big let-down for the 110m hurdler.

2026, however, has seen a marked change. Having started his 2026 season in January, Britt has already won more races than he did in 2025. In fact, he’s currently on a streak of four straight wins and has failed to podium in just two races since April. It’s a remarkable streak, albeit one that includes 8th- and 9th-place finishes at the Doha and Rome DL meets.

Even that didn’t seem to matter, though, as Jamal Britt bounced back. First from the Rome loss with a 12.99 at the USATF LA Grand Prix, and then with a four-win streak after Doha. To put it in perspective, prior to 2026, Britt had never won a Diamond League meet or broken sub-13. In 2026, he’s won four DLs and clocked 4 sub-13s alongside becoming the fifth fastest man in the 110m hurdles.

However, while his end goal is an Olympic gold, his target for 2026 is simple: making the cut for the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.

“I was not feeling 100%. I still felt jetlag after coming from China, so I did not quite know what I was capable of,” Britt said after winning in Bydgoszcz in May 2026.

“Bydgoszcz was where I ran the first European race of my career, so I have good memories from here. This year I am just trying to focus on my craft. My main goal is the Ultimate Championship. I have never run in major championships before, so I am very excited to see how it is going to be.” 

The USATF Tour title rewarded Jamal Britt’s consistency, but he has already fixed his sights on an even bigger stage. Only time will tell if American hurdling has found its next genuine Olympic contender.