He was the American record holder in the 110 meter hurdles. Oliver is a four-time U.S. Champion, having won indoor and outdoor titles in 2008, a second outdoor title at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and third outdoor title at the 2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He also won the gold medal at the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final. He has a personal best of 12.89 seconds in the 110 m hurdles, placing him fifth on the all-time list at the time of his retirement from athletics at the end of the 2017 season (fourth at the time he ran it).[1]
Oliver received his first All-American honor with a fourth-place finish at the 2003 NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship, running a personal record 13.60 seconds in the process, adding to a long history of Howard University's Track and Field NCAA Division I-A All-Americans. This was Howard's most recent track and field All-American since Calvin Branch received the honor in 1989.
In 2008 Oliver won his first national title in the 60 m hurdles. At the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships, he was knocked out in the semi-finals stage. Later in the year, he ran a personal best of 12.95 seconds at the Qatar Grand Prix.[5] He ran a wind-assisted 12.89 seconds in the semi-finals of the United States Olympic Trials and went on to beat Olympic and world silver medalist Terrence Trammell in the final with another windy run of 12.95 seconds.[2] Oliver went on to claim the bronze medal in the 110 m hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, finishing behind Dayron Robles who set an Olympic record and compatriot David Payne.[6] He closed the year with victories at the ISTAF meet in Berlin and at the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final. He was the second fastest 110 m hurdler of 2008. The 2009 season started promisingly for Oliver, as he recorded 13.09 seconds for his third win in Qatar, but a calf strain resulted in him missing the US Outdoor Championships, and thus the opportunity to qualify for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics.[2]
Oliver started the 2010 outdoor season with four straight wins over other competitors, among them victories at the Ponce Grand Prix,[7] and the Colorful Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting over Dayron Robles.[8] He scored his first IAAF Diamond League win at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in May, beating home favorite Liu Xiang with a meeting record of 12.99 seconds.[9] The following month he set a new personal best of 12.93 seconds to win his second national title at the USA Championships.[10] Oliver improved on his personal best in the 110 m hurdles on July 3, 2010, with a time of 12.90 seconds, equalling the area and national record held by Dominique Arnold.[11] On July 16, 2010, Oliver ran 12.89 for the 110 m hurdles, which was the third fastest time ever at that point (after Dayron Robles and Liu Xiang).[12] Additionally, he moved up to number six on the all-time lists in the 60 m hurdles with a win at the Sparkassen Cup, where his personal best of 7.37 seconds also brought him his first ever indoor victory over Dayron Robles.[13] By the time 2010 came to an end, Oliver was unbeaten in 15 finals races and held the top five times and eight of the top nine times in the world. .[1]
2011 saw Oliver, during the outdoor season, win another U.S. Championship title and run under the 13 second barrier again. Indoor he produced his career best 7.37, just 0.01 off the American record. He finished the season ranked #3 in the world.
2013, Oliver was able to bounce back from back to back injury plagued seasons and he was able to win his first global title, winning the World Championships in 13.00 in Moscow, Russia. He also won his second IAAF Diamond League title.
Retirement from Athletics
At the end of the 2017 season, Oliver announced his retirement from athletics. He was subsequently appointed head of the track and field program at his alma mater, Howard University.[14][15][16]
National indoor championships – Winner: 2008. Runner-up: 2010.
Rankings
Oliver was ranked among the best in the US and the world in the 110m hurdles from 2005 to 2016, according to the votes of the experts of Track and Field News.[19][20]
110 m hurdles
Year
World rank
US rank
2005
-
8th
2006
7th
5th
2007
9th
6th
2008
2nd
1st
2009
8th
5th
2010
1st
1st
2011
3rd
2nd
2012
3rd
3rd
2013
1st
1st
2014
6th
1st
2015
2nd
1st
2016
8th
2nd
Achievements and Accolades
In 2014, Oliver was elected to the Howard University Hall of Fame. [21]