By Isaac Gibson
In 2015, Aries Merritt, world record-holder in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, leaned across the line at the IAAF Beijing World Outdoor Championships in third place. While to some it seemed like a bad day, beneath it all it may have been his greatest race.
Four days later, Aries checked into the hospital for a kidney transplant.
“It was obviously really hard for me to bite the bullet that I was going to need a kidney transplant, but I didn’t let that deter me,” Aries said. “Because (the doctors) had already told me years prior that I would never run again, and they were wrong about that. I was like ‘Y’all are wrong about everything. I’m just gonna continue to fight on and try my best.’”
Two surgeries later, including one that was not planned, Merritt is back on the track and competing Saturday at the Prefontaine Classic. Every year Merritt has competed at Pre he has set a season best, and is looking to continue that streak.
His physical troubles started in 2013, at the Moscow world championships. Merritt felt sick and was not able to perform at his typical caliber. Two months later he felt so sick he had to check into the emergency room. There he found out that he had a rare kidney disease he inherited from his father.
Merritt was told training was not an option, but still did despite the doctor’s orders. He competed for two years with his kidneys operating at roughly 20 percent efficiency. “I couldn’t eat what an athlete should eat,” he said. “My potassium was limited, protein was limited, sodium intake was very minimal – I was so thin, I couldn’t eat anything.”
Despite everything, Merritt continued through the 2015 season, running a season-best at the Prefontaine Classic and placing third at the U.S. outdoor nationals, securing his spot on the world championship team.
When Merritt stepped on the track at Beijing, his 2012 self would not have recognized him. “I was very very thin in 2015 – incredibly thin,” Merritt said. “My arms looked like bones.”
Merritt was going to compete with little blood in his body, low-functioning kidneys and no proteins all while being 15 pounds underweight. “It was really hard for me in-between rounds, throwing up and passing out,” he said. “I tried to go through the media as smooth as I could, and when I was through with them I was like ‘Oh my God, I’m about to throw up.’”
None of it mattered to Merritt.
He knew he was going to give it everything he had for what could have been his final performance. Once the doctors gave him the disclaimers of the danger his surgery presented, he did not know if he would survive it.
“I’ve never met anybody like Aries,” said Justin Gatlin, 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the 100 meters. “Having a world record, having an Olympic gold medal, being a Diamond League champion and having so many sub-13 performances – it could leave you full.”
But when Merritt woke up from his surgery, the first thing on his mind was when could he get back to training.
The training started slowly for Merritt, but when it began to pick up, he could tell something was wrong. When he was running, he could not bring his right knee up all the way because he was feeling pain in his kidney.
Doctors told him that he developed a hematoma. “I couldn’t plan for that – it was a freak,” he said. “There was blood surrounding and clotting in my tissue, and it was actually crushing my kidney.”
He had to undergo another surgery in October to drain the blood and have the kidney placed deeper inside his body. He didn’t start running again until December.
After his two-month recovery, Merritt was ready to begin serious training. Now he is playing a game of catch-up. Most athletes had base training in the fall, dabbled with speed training during the indoor season and are putting everything together in the outdoor season to peak at the right time to make the Olympic team. But Merritt does not have the luxury of time.
His first race back was the Drake Relays in late April. He got off to a rocky start, finishing fifth in 13.61. His second race was the Doha Diamond League meet, where he improved upon his time, finishing sixth in 13.37. He continued lowering his time at the IAAF World Challenge to 13.24, giving him a better shot at making the Olympic team.
“I just had my eight-month appointment, and my lab work looks amazing,” Merritt said. “I’m so happy everything turned out smoothly and everything is right where it needs to be right now.”
Merritt has continued to talk to his doctor, who reminisced with him about the third-place finish in Beijing. “He said, ‘You know your bronze medal should be ingrained in platinum around the edges because it should be worth more than a gold medal,’” he said. “No one knows how hard that was to accomplish.”
