I’ll be updating this post later, when I make an argument that Merritt should be the Athlete of the Year in any such compilation for track and field.
But for right now, I thought I’d show you the summary of Merritt’s season. As you can see, it wasn’t without errors, and was dominant only in the mid- to late-parts of the indoor and outdoor season. But it was a long and fearless and he got better and better and better as it went along.
Regarding “notable opponents”…I decided that the strongest competition was offered up by Liu Xiang and Dayron Robles during the indoor season, and Liu and Jason Richardson during the outdoor season.
Times in blue are among the top 100 of all time (13.03 or better). Times in red are among the top ten of all time (12.91 or better).
Anyway, here it is.
| Date | Place and meet | Time | Notable opponents |
| 28-Jan | 5) US Open (50m) | 6.54 | |
| 4-Feb | 2) Boston | 7.62 | |
| 11-Feb | 3) Millrose Games | 7.53 | |
| 18-Feb | 2h) Birmingham | 7.59 | |
| 18-Feb | 6) Birmingham | 7.55 | 1)Liu, 2)Robles |
| 25-Feb | 2h) USA ID Champs | 7.61 A | |
| 26-Feb | 2sf) USA ID Champs | 7.58 A | |
| 26-Feb | 1) USA ID Champs | 7.43 A | |
| 10-Mar | 1h) World ID | 7.66 | |
| 11-Mar | 2sf) World ID | 7.65 | |
| 11-Mar | 1) World ID | 7.44 | 2)Liu |
| 21-Apr | 1h) McDonnell Inv | 13.25 | |
| 21-Apr | 1) McDonnell Inv | 13.25 | |
| 4-May | 1) Arkansas Twilight | 13.03 | |
| 16-May | 1) Daegu IWC | 13.21 | 3)Richardson |
| 19-May | 4) Shanghai DL | 13.26 | 1)Liu, 3)Richardson |
| 2-Jun | 2) Eugene DL | 12.96w | 1)Liu |
| 9-Jun | dq) New York DL | false start | |
| 29-Jun | 1h) Olympic Trials | 13.13 | |
| 30-Jun | 1sf) Olympic Trials | 13.01 | |
| 30-Jun | 1) Olympic Trials | 12.93 | 2)Richardson |
| 13-Jul | 1h) London DL | 13.14 | |
| 13-Jul | 1) London DL | 12.93 | 2)Richardson |
| 20-Jul | 1) Monaco DL | 12.93 | 2)Richardson |
| 7-Aug | 1h) Olympic Games | 13.07 | |
| 8-Aug | 1sf) Olympic Games | 12.94 | |
| 8-Aug | 1) Olympic Games | 12.92 | 2)Richardson |
| 23-Aug | dq) Lausanne DL | false start | 1)Richardson |
| 26-Aug | 1) Birmingham DL | 12.95 | 2)Richardson |
| 2-Sep | 1) Berlin IWC | 12.97 | |
| 7-Sep | 1) Bruxelles DL | 12.80 WR | 2)Richardson |