Aries Merritt (born July 24, 1985) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 110 metre hurdles, and currently holds the world record in that event with a time of 12.80 s set on September 7, 2012.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, he moved to Marietta, Georgia at a young age, attending Joseph Wheeler High School, where he was teammates with Reggie Witherspoon.

His victory at the NCAA Championships in 13.21 s was the second fastest ever collegiate time in the United States, behind only Renaldo Nehemiah.

[4] In an interview he stated, "[it] was pretty risky to make a change like that, but something had to be done if I was going to compete with (Liu Xiang of China and Dayron Robles of Cuba).

Merritt subsequently matched the time at two consecutive Diamond League events, at Crystal Palace and Monaco, winning both races.

[6][7] On September 7, 2012, at the final Diamond League meet (Memorial Van Damme) in Brussels, Belgium, Merritt ran a time of 12.80 s in the 110 meter hurdles, shattering the old world record of 12.87 s held by Dayron Robles.