Women's 400m hurdles

The 400 metres hurdles is an Olympic athletics event in track and field. On a standard outdoor track 400 metres is the length of the inside lane once around the stadium. Runners stay in their lane the entire way after starting out of the blocks and must clear ten hurdles that are evenly spaced around the track. The hurdles are positioned so that they fall forward if bumped into to prevent injury to the runners. Although fallen hurdles don't count against them, runners like to clear them clean, as touching them during the race slows runners down.

The best male athletes can run the 400 m hurdles in a time of around 47 seconds, while the best female athletes achieve a time of around 53 seconds. The current men's and women's world record holders are Kevin Young with 46.78 seconds and Yuliya Pechonkina with 52.34 seconds. Compared to the 400 metres, the hurdles race takes the men about three seconds longer and the women four seconds longer.

The 400 m hurdles have been an Olympic discipline since 1900 and 1984 for men and women, respectively.

History[link]

The first awards in a 400 m hurdles race were given in 1860 when a race was held in Oxford, England, over a course of 440 yards (402.336 m). While running the course, participants had to clear twelve wooden hurdles, over 100 centimetres tall, that had been spaced in even intervals.

To reduce the risk of injury, somewhat more lightweight constructions were introduced in 1895 that runners could push over. However, until 1935 runners were disqualified if they pushed over more than three hurdles in a race and records were only officially accepted if the runner in question had cleared all hurdles clean and left them all standing.

The 400 m hurdles became an Olympic event at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. At the same time, the race was standardized so that virtually identical races could be held and the finish times compared to each other. As a result, the official distance was fixed to 400 metres, or one lap of the stadium, and the number of hurdles was reduced to ten. The official height of the hurdles was set to 91.4 cm (3 feet) for men and 76.20 cm (2 ft, 6 inches) for women. The hurdles were now placed on the course with a run-up to the first hurdle of 45 metres, a distance between the hurdles of 35 metres each, and a home stretch from the last hurdle to the finish line of 40 metres.

The first documented 400 m hurdles race for women took place in 1971. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) introduced the event officially as a discipline in 1974, although it was not run at the Olympics until 1984, the first World Champion having been crowned the year before at the inaugural IAAF World Championships in Athletics.

Many athletic commentators and officials have often brought up the idea of lifting the height of the women's 400 m hurdles to incorporate a greater requirement of hurdling skill. This is a view held by German athletic coach Norbert Stein: "All this means that the women's hurdles for specialists, who are the target group to be dealt with in this discussion, is considerably depreciated in skill demands when compared to the men's hurdles. It should not be possible in the women's hurdles that the winner is an athlete whose performance in the flat sprint is demonstrably excellent but whose technique of hurdling is only moderate and whose anthropometric characteristics are not optimal. This was the case at the World Championships in Seville and the same problem can often be seen at international and national meetings."^{[citation needed]}

Hurdling Technique[link]

“The 400m hurdle race one of the most demanding of all events in the sprint-hurdle group.” (Lindeman) It requires speed, endurance, and hurdling technique all along with unique awareness and special concentration throughout the race.

Block Start[link]

When preparing to hurdle, the blocks should be set so that the athlete arrives at the first hurdle leading on the desired leg without inserting a stutter step. A stutter step is when the runner has to chop his or her stride down to arrive on the "correct" leg for take off. Throughout the race, any adjustments to stride length stride speed should be made several strides out from the hurdle because a stutter or being too far from the hurdle at take off will result in loss of momentum and speed.

Going over the hurdle[link]

At the beginning of the take-off, the knee must be driven toward the hurdle and the foot then extended. The knee should be slightly bent when crossing the hurdle. Unless an athlete’s body has great flexibility, the knee must be slightly bent to allow a forward body lean. Unlike the 110m hurdles, a significant forward body learn is not that necessary due to the hurdles being lower. However, the trail leg must be kept bent and short to provide a quick lever action allowing a fast hurdle clearance. The knee should pull through under the armpit and should not be flat across the top of the hurdle.

It is also important that the hurdler doesn’t reach out on the last stride before the hurdle as this will result in a longer bound being made to clear the hurdle. This will also result in a loss of momentum if the foot lands well in front of the center of gravity.

Stride Length[link]

Using a left lead leg on the bends allows the hurdler to run closer to the inside of the lane and cover a shorter distance. Additionally, if the left leg is used for the lead, then the athlete's upper body can be leaned to the left, making it easier to bring the trail leg through. Additionally, an athlete hurdling with a right leg lead around the bends must take care that they do not inadvertently trail their foot or toe around the hurdle rather than passing over the top, which would lead to a disqualifciation from the race. At an early age, many coaches train their athletes to hurdle with both legs. This is a useful skill to learn since as a runner tires, their stride length may decrease, resulting in the need either to add a stutter stride, or to take a hurdle on the right leg. The 400 metre hurdles is a very physically demanding race. It requires intense training to get the endurance, speed and technique needed to compete.

Most successful athletes[link]

American athlete Glenn Davis had a prodigious start to his hurdling career, running his first race in April 1956 in 54.4 s. Two months later, he ran a new world record with 49.5 s and later that year he won the 400 m hurdles at the Olympics, and was also the first to repeat that feat in 1960.

In terms of success and longevity in competition, Edwin Moses' record is significant: he won 122 races in a row between 1977 and 1987 plus two gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montréal, and the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He was undefeated for exactly nine years nine months and nine days, from August 26, 1977 until June 4, 1987. The U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow prevented him from winning a hat-trick of gold medals, but his career is nonetheless widely regarded as one of the most successful in hurdling. His winning streak lasted until he finished third in the 1988 Olympic final, the last race in his professional career. He also held the world record for sixteen years from when he first broke it at the Olympics on July 25, 1976 (twice in one day) until it was finally broken by Kevin Young at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Edwin Moses

• Two Olympic victories:
  • Glenn Davis (USA), 1956 and 1960
  • Edwin Moses (USA), 1976 and 1984 (also bronze in 1988)
  • Angelo Taylor {USA}, 2000 and 2008

• Two World Championships:
  • Edwin Moses (USA), 1983 and 1987
  • Félix Sánchez (DOM), 2001 and 2003 (won silver in 2007)
  • Nezha Bidouane (MAR), 1997 and 2001 (won silver in 1999)
  • Jana Rawlinson (AUS), 2003 (as Jana Pittman) and 2007
  • Kerron Clement (USA), 2007 and 2009

Medalists[link]

Olympic Games[link]

Men[link]

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1900 Paris	Walter Tewksbury (USA)	Henri Tauzin (FRA)	George Orton (CAN)
1904 St. Louis	Harry Hillman (USA)	Frank Waller (USA)	George Poage (USA)
1908 London	Charles Bacon (USA)	Harry Hillman (USA)	Jimmy Tremeer (GBR)
1912 Stockholm	not included in the Olympic program
1920 Antwerp	Frank Loomis (USA)	John Norton (USA)	August Desch (USA)
1924 Paris	Morgan Taylor (USA)	Erik Wilén (FIN)	Ivan Riley (USA)
1928 Amsterdam	David Burghley (GBR)	Frank Cuhel (USA)	Morgan Taylor (USA)
1932 Los Angeles	Bob Tisdall (IRL)	Glenn Hardin (USA)	Morgan Taylor (USA)
1936 Berlin	Glenn Hardin (USA)	John Loaring (CAN)	Miguel White (PHI)
1948 London	Roy Cochran (USA)	Duncan White (CEY)	Rune Larsson (SWE)
1952 Helsinki	Charles Moore (USA)	22x20px Yuriy Lituyev (URS)	John Holland (NZL)
1956 Melbourne	Glenn Davis (USA)	Eddie Southern (USA)	Josh Culbreath (USA)
1960 Rome	Glenn Davis (USA)	Clifton Cushman (USA)	Dick Howard (USA)
1964 Tokyo	Rex Cawley (USA)	John Cooper (GBR)	Salvatore Morale (ITA)
1968 Mexico City	David Hemery (GBR)	Gerhard Hennige (FRG)	John Sherwood (GBR)
1972 Munich	John Akii-Bua (UGA)	Ralph Mann (USA)	David Hemery (GBR)
1976 Montreal	Edwin Moses (USA)	Michael Shine (USA)	22x20px Yevgeniy Gavrilenko (URS)
1980 Moscow	Volker Beck (GDR)	22x20px Vasyl Arkhypenko (URS)	Gary Oakes (GBR)
1984 Los Angeles	Edwin Moses (USA)	Danny Harris (USA)	Harald Schmid (FRG)
1988 Seoul	André Phillips (USA)	Amadou Dia Ba (SEN)	Edwin Moses (USA)
1992 Barcelona	Kevin Young (USA)	Winthrop Graham (JAM)	Kriss Akabusi (GBR)
1996 Atlanta	Derrick Adkins (USA)	Samuel Matete (ZAM)	Calvin Davis (USA)
2000 Sydney	Angelo Taylor (USA)	Hadi Al Somayli (KSA)	Llewellyn Herbert (RSA)
2004 Athens	Félix Sánchez (DOM)	Danny McFarlane (JAM)	Naman Keïta (FRA)
2008 Beijing	Angelo Taylor (USA)	Kerron Clement (USA)	Bershawn Jackson (USA)

Women[link]

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1984 Los Angeles	Nawal El Moutawakel (MAR)	Judi Brown (USA)	Cristieana Cojocaru (ROU)
1988 Seoul	Debbie Flintoff-King (AUS)	Tatyana Ledovskaya (URS)	Ellen Fiedler (GDR)
1992 Barcelona	Sally Gunnell (GBR)	Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA)	Janeene Vickers (USA)
1996 Atlanta	Deon Hemmings (JAM)	Kim Batten (USA)	Tonja Buford-Bailey (USA)
2000 Sydney	Irina Privalova (RUS)	Deon Hemmings (JAM)	Nezha Bidouane (MAR)
2004 Athens	Faní Halkiá (GRE)	Ionela Târlea-Manolache (ROU)	Tetiana Tereshchuk-Antipova (UKR)
2008 Beijing	Melaine Walker (JAM)	Sheena Tosta (USA)	Tasha Danvers (GBR)

World Championships[link]

The official IAAF World Championships in Athletics competition began in 1983, but a 1980 women's event in Sittard, Netherlands, was also granted World Championship status. Three East German athletes took the gold, silver and bronze medals: Bärbel Broschat, Ellen Neumann, and Petra Pfaff.^[1]

Men[link]

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1983	Edwin Moses (USA)	Harald Schmid (FRG)	Aleksandr Karlov (URS)
1987	Edwin Moses (USA)	Danny Harris (USA)	Harald Schmid (FRG)
1991	Samuel Matete (ZAM)	Winthrop Graham (JAM)	Kriss Akabusi (GBR)
1993	Kevin Young (USA)	Samuel Matete (ZAM)	Winthrop Graham (JAM)
1995	Derrick Adkins (USA)	Samuel Matete (ZAM)	Stéphane Diagana (FRA)
1997	Stéphane Diagana (FRA)	Llewellyn Herbert (RSA)	Bryan Bronson (USA)
1999	Fabrizio Mori (ITA)	Stéphane Diagana (FRA)	Marcel Schelbert (SUI)
2001	Félix Sánchez (DOM)	Fabrizio Mori (ITA)	Dai Tamesue (JPN)
2003	Félix Sánchez (DOM)	Joey Woody (USA)	Periklis Iakovakis (GRE)
2005	Bershawn Jackson (USA)	James Carter (USA)	Dai Tamesue (JPN)
2007	Kerron Clement (USA)	Félix Sánchez (DOM)	Marek Plawgo (POL)
2009	Kerron Clement (USA)	Javier Culson (PUR)	Bershawn Jackson (USA)
2011	Dai Greene (GBR)	Javier Culson (PUR)	L.J. Van Zyl (RSA)

Women[link]

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1983	Yekaterina Fesenko (URS)	Anna Ambraziené (URS)	Ellen Fiedler (GDR)
1987	Sabine Busch (GDR)	Debbie Flintoff-King (AUS)	Cornelia Ullrich (GDR)
1991	Tatyana Ledovskaya (URS)	Sally Gunnell (GBR)	Janeene Vickers (USA)
1993	Sally Gunnell (GBR)	Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA)	Margarita Ponomaryova (RUS)
1995	Kim Batten (USA)	Tonya Buford-Bailey (USA)	Deon Hemmings (JAM)
1997	Nezha Bidouane (MAR)	Deon Hemmings (JAM)	Kim Batten (USA)
1999	Daimi Pernia (CUB)	Nezha Bidouane (MAR)	Deon Hemmings (JAM)
2001	Nezha Bidouane (MAR)	Yuliya Nosova (RUS)	Daimí Pernía (CUB)
2003	Jana Rawlinson (AUS)	Sandra Glover (USA)	Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS)
2005	Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS)	Lashinda Demus (USA)	Sandra Glover (USA)
2007	Jana Rawlinson (AUS)	Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS)	Anna Jesień (POL)
2009	Melaine Walker (JAM)	Lashinda Demus (USA)	Josanne Lucas (TRI)
2011	Lashinda Demus (USA)	Melaine Walker (JAM)	Natalya Antyukh (RUS)

Statistics[link]

All-time top 25 men[link]

(Updated May 2010) ^[2]

Pos	Time	Athlete	Country	Venue	Date
1.	46.78	Kevin Young	United States	Barcelona	August 6, 1992
2.	47.02	Edwin Moses	United States	Koblenz	August 31, 1983
3.	47.03	Bryan Bronson	United States	New Orleans	June 21, 1998
4.	47.10	Samuel Matete	Zambia	Zürich	August 7, 1991
5.	47.19	Andre Phillips	United States	Seoul	September 25, 1988
6.	47.23	Amadou Dia Ba	Senegal	Seoul	September 25, 1988
7.	47.24	Kerron Clement	United States	Carson, California	June 26, 2005
8.	47.25	Félix Sánchez	Dominican Republic	Paris, Saint-Denis	August 29, 2003
		Angelo Taylor	United States	Beijing	August 18, 2008
10.	47.30	Bershawn Jackson	United States	Helsinki	August 9, 2005
11.	47.37	Stéphane Diagana	France	Lausanne	July 5, 1995
12.	47.38	Danny Harris	United States	Lausanne	July 10, 1991
13.	47.43	James Carter	United States	Helsinki	August 9, 2005
14.	47.48	Harald Schmid	West Germany	Athens	September 8, 1982
15.	47.53	Hadi Soua'an Al-Somaily	Saudi Arabia	Sydney	September 27, 2000
16.	47.54	Derrick Adkins	United States	Lausanne	July 5, 1995
		Fabrizio Mori	Italy	Edmonton	August 10, 2001
18.	47.60	Winthrop Graham	Jamaica	Zürich	August 4, 1993
19.	47.63	Johnny Dutch	United States	Des Moines	June 26, 2010
20.	47.66	Louis Jacob van Zyl	South Africa	Pretoria	February 25, 2011
21.	47.67	Bennie Brazell	United States	Sacramento	June 11, 2005
22.	47.72	Javier Culson	Puerto Rico	Ponce, PR	May 8, 2010
23.	47.75	David Patrick	United States	Indianapolis	July 17, 1988
24.	47.81	Llewellyn Herbert	South Africa	Sydney	September 27, 2000
25.	47.82	John Akii-Bua	Uganda	München	September 2, 1972
		Kriss Akabusi	United Kingdom	Barcelona	August 6, 1992
		Periklís Iakovákis	Greece	Osaka	May 6, 2006

All-time top 25 women[link]

(Updated August 2010)^[3]

Pos.	Time	Athlete	Country	Venue	Date
1.	52.34	Yuliya Pechonkina	Russia	Tula	August 8, 2003
2.	52.42	Melaine Walker	Jamaica	Berlin	August 20, 2009
3.	52.47	Lashinda Demus	United States	Daegu	September 1, 2011
4.	52.61	Kim Batten	United States	Göteborg	August 11, 1995
5.	52.62	Tonja Buford-Bailey	United States	Göteborg	August 11, 1995
6.	52.74	Sally Gunnell	United Kingdom	Stuttgart	August 19, 1993
7.	52.77	Fani Halkia	Greece	Athens	August 22, 2004
8.	52.79	Sandra Farmer-Patrick	United States	Stuttgart	August 19, 1993
		Kaliese Spencer	Jamaica	London	August 5, 2011
10.	52.82	Deon Hemmings	Jamaica	Atlanta	July 31, 1996
11.	52.89	Daimí Pernía	Cuba	Seville	August 25, 1999
12.	52.90	Nezha Bidouane	Morocco	Seville	August 25, 1999
13.	52.92	Natalya Antyukh	Russia	Barcelona	July 30, 2010
14.	52.94	Marina Stepanova	Soviet Union	Tashkent	September 17, 1986
15.	52.95	Sheena Johnson	United States	Sacramento	July 11, 2004
16.	53.02	Irina Privalova	Russia	Sydney	September 27, 2000
17.	53.11	Tatyana Ledovskaya	Soviet Union	Tokyo	August 29, 1991
18.	53.17	Debbie Flintoff-King	Australia	Seoul	September 28, 1988
19.	53.20	Josanne Lucas	Trinidad and Tobago	Berlin	August 20, 2009
20.	53.21	Marie-José Pérec	France	Zürich	August 16, 1995
21.	53.22	Jana Rawlinson	Australia	Paris Saint-Denis	August 28, 2003
22.	53.24	Sabine Busch	East Germany	Potsdam	August 21, 1987
23.	53.25	Ionela Târlea	Romania	Rome	July 7, 1999
24.	53.28	Tiffany Williams	United States	Indianapolis	June 24, 2007
25.	53.29	Zuzana Hejnová	Czech Republic	Saint-Denis	July 8, 2011

Milestones[link]

• Men
  • First official IAAF world record: 55.0 seconds, Charles Bacon (USA), 1908
  • First under 54 seconds: 53.8 seconds, Sten Pettersson (SWE), 1925
  • First under 53 seconds: 52.6 seconds, John Gibson (USA), 1927
  • First under 52 seconds: 51.7 seconds, Bob Tisdall (IRL), 1932
  • First under 51 seconds: 50.6 seconds, Glenn Hardin (USA), 1934
  • First under 50 seconds: 49.5 seconds, Glenn Davis (USA), 1956
  • First under 49 seconds: 48.8 seconds, Geoff Vanderstock (USA), 1968
  • First under 48 seconds: 47.82 seconds, John Akii-Bua (UGA), 1972
  • First under 47 seconds: 46.78 seconds, Kevin Young (USA), 1992 (this is the only time under 47 seconds)

• Women
  • First official world record: 56.51 seconds, Krystyna Kacperczyk (POL), 1974
  • First under 56 seconds: 55.74 seconds, Tatjana Storoschewa (USSR), 1977
  • First under 55 seconds: 54.89 seconds, Tatjana Selenzowa (USSR), 1978
  • First under 54 seconds: 53.58 seconds, Margarita Ponomarjowa (USSR), 1984
  • First under 53 seconds: 52.94 seconds, Marina Stepanova (USSR), 1986

Season's bests[link]

Men's YEAR TIME ATHLETE PLACE 1971 48.9  Ralph Mann (USA) Helsinki 1972 47.82  John Akii-Bua (UGA) Munich 1973 48.54  John Akii-Bua (UGA) Lagos 1974 48.1  Jim Bolding (USA) Milan 1975 48.4  Jim Bolding (USA) Milan 1976 47.63  Edwin Moses (USA) Montreal 1977 47.45  Edwin Moses (USA) Westwood, Los Angeles 1978 47.94  Edwin Moses (USA) Zürich 1979 47.53  Edwin Moses (USA) Montreal 1980 47.13  Edwin Moses (USA) Milan 1981 47.14  Edwin Moses (USA) Lausanne 1982 47.48  Harald Schmid (FRG) Athens 1983 47.02  Edwin Moses (USA) Koblenz 1984 47.32  Edwin Moses (USA) Koblenz 1985 47.63  Danny Harris (USA) Zürich 1986 47.38  Edwin Moses (USA) Lausanne 1987 47.46  Edwin Moses (USA) Rome 1988 47.19  Andre Phillips (USA) Seoul 1989 47.86  Kevin Young (USA) Berlin 1990 47.49  Danny Harris (USA) Lausanne 1991 47.10  Samuel Matete (ZAM) Zürich 1992 46.78  Kevin Young (USA) Barcelona 1993 47.18  Kevin Young (USA) Stuttgart 1994 47.70  Derrick Adkins (USA) Linz 1995 47.37  Stéphane Diagana (FRA) Lausanne 1996 47.54  Derrick Adkins (USA) Atlanta 1997 47.64  Bryan Bronson (USA) Monaco 1998 47.03  Bryan Bronson (USA) New Orleans 1999 47.72  Fabrizio Mori (ITA) Seville 2000 47.50  Angelo Taylor (USA) Sydney 2001 47.38  Félix Sánchez (DOM) Zürich 2002 47.35  Félix Sánchez (DOM) Zürich 2003 47.25  Félix Sánchez (DOM) Saint-Denis 2004 47.63  Félix Sánchez (DOM) Athens 2005 47.24  Kerron Clement (USA) Carson 2006 47.39  Kerron Clement (USA) Indianapolis 2007 47.61  Kerron Clement (USA) Osaka 2008 47.25  Angelo Taylor (USA) Beijing 2009 47.91  Kerron Clement (USA) Berlin 2010 47.32  Bershawn Jackson (USA) Des Moines 2011 47.66 A 47.66  Louis Jacob van Zyl (RSA) Pretoria Ostrava

Women's YEAR TIME ATHLETE PLACE 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 54.89  Tatyana Zelentsova (URS) Prague 1979 54.78  Marina Stepanova (URS) Moscow 1980 54.28  Karin Roßley (GDR) Jena 1981 54.79  Ellen Fiedler (GDR) Jena 1982 54.57  Ann-Louise Skoglund (SWE) Athens 1983 54.02  Anna Ambraziene (URS) Moscow 1984 53.58  Margarita Ponomaryova (URS) Kiev 1985 53.55  Sabine Busch (GDR) Berlin 1986 52.94  Marina Stepanova (URS) Tashkent 1987 53.24  Sabine Busch (GDR) Potsdam 1988 53.17  Debbie Flintoff-King (AUS) Seoul 1989 53.37  Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA) New York City 1990 53.62  Tatyana Ledovskaya (URS) Split 1991 53.11  Tatyana Ledovskaya (URS) Tokyo 1992 53.23  Sally Gunnell (GBR) Barcelona 1993 52.74  Sally Gunnell (GBR) Stuttgart 1994 53.33  Sally Gunnell (GBR) Helsinki 1995 52.61  Kim Batten (USA) Gothenburg 1996 52.82  Deon Hemmings (JAM) Atlanta 1997 52.97  Kim Batten (USA)  Nezha Bidouane (MAR) Indianapolis Athens 1998 52.74  Kim Batten (USA) Monaco 1999 52.89  Daimí Pernía (CUB) Seville 2000 53.02  Irina Privalova (RUS) Sydney 2001 53.34  Nezha Bidouane (MAR) Edmonton 2002 53.10  Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS) Tula 2003 52.34  Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS) Tula 2004 52.77  Faní Halkiá (GRE) Athens 2005 52.90  Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS) Helsinki 2006 53.02  Lashinda Demus (USA) Athens 2007 53.28  Tiffany Williams (USA) Indianapolis 2008 52.64  Melaine Walker (JAM) Beijing 2009 52.42  Melaine Walker (JAM) Berlin 2010 52.82  Lashinda Demus (USA) Rome 2011 52.47  Lashinda Demus (USA) Daegu

References[link]

Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent German-language Wikipedia article (retrieved February 4, 2006).

See also[link]

• Men's 400 metres hurdles world record progression