Aries Merritt has claimed that his Olympic gold from London in 2012 has been dwarfed by winning bronze in Friday's 110m hurdle final at the World Athletics Championships.
Four days before he is scheduled to undergo a kidney transplant, donated by his sister, the American finished third in the eight-man field by clocking a time of 13.04s to ensure that he will leave Beijing with a medal.
Merritt was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder in 2013 and was told that it would effectively end his athletics career, and the 30-year-old says that yesterday's performance takes pride of place in his achievements under the circumstances.
"This bronze medal means more to me than my Olympic gold," he is quoted as saying by Associated Press.
"If I was a normal human being, we might have seen a record, who knows? But the reality is, I'm not a normal human being."
Jamaica's Hansle Parchment pipped him to silver by 0.1s after clocking 13.03s, while Russia's Sergey Shubenkov took gold in a time of 12.98s.
