Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
At the 2005 World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Ladji Doucouré secured the 110m hurdles title by a margin of 0.01 seconds, finishing in 13.07 to beat Liu Xiang of China, who clocked 13.08. Four-time world champion Allen Johnson of the US came third in 13.10. Doucouré said he did not believe he had won until watching the replay on the giant screen, describing it as "a brutal race, a real fight all the way to the line." He acknowledged the competitiveness of the event, noting the result could vary in another race and that he was not necessarily the best hurdler of all time, but was the best on that day.
Doucouré’s 2005 performance marked a strong improvement from the 2004 Olympic final in Athens, where he set French records in the opening round (13.18) and semi-finals (13.06) but crashed at the last hurdle, dropping from second to eighth place. In 2005, Doucouré was smoother, steadier, faster, and stronger, a result of intense off-season work under coach Renaud Longuèvre. Earlier in 2005, he won the European indoor 60m hurdles title and set a French national record of 12.97 at the French Championships in Angers.
Doucouré’s Helsinki victory made him the first French athlete to win a senior global 110m hurdles title since Guy Drut, who earned Olympic gold in 1976. Both athletes also share the distinction of winning the French U20 decathlon title—Doucouré in 2001 and Drut in 1968. The spike from Doucouré’s world final winning race has been donated to the Museum of World Athletics, reflecting the achievement’s significance for French athletics.
Raised by a Malian father and Senegalese mother in the Paris suburb of Viry-Châtillon, Doucouré has shown humility, including donating an appearance fee earned after a false start at a 2004 Golden League meeting to children at his track club.