Hurdle Races
Introduction
Hurdling is a type of jumping in which an athlete jumps over an obstacle at a high speed or in
a sprint. Hurdling is a highly specialized form of obstacle racing that is part of the sport of
athletics. Moreover, the hurdling events, barriers or obstacles are known as hurdles that are set
at a defined distance according to the event.
Objective
The main objective of the athlete is to run over a precise distance with full stamina and cross the
finish line in the fastest possible time over going hurdles.
Participants
The International Association of Athletics Federations (“IAAF”) organizes athletic
championships throughout the world and is the only global governing body. The Male and
female athletes compete as individuals belonging to different countries.
History
In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran and jumped over each hurdle earlier known as burgles. In
1902, Spalding Equipment Company sold the first Hurdle called ‘Foster Patent Safety
Hurdle’ and that was a wooden hurdle. In 1923, some of the wooden hurdles had weighed about
16 lbs (The full form of Lb is Libra) . each. Later on, with passing time the hurdles design had
gone through improvements that were made in 1935, when for the first time they developed the
L-shaped hurdle.
The improved design that is the L-shaped was preferred over other shapes because with this
shape, the athlete not only hit the hurdle but it would even tip down helping in clearing the
athlete’s path.
100 Meter Hurdles
The event became popular from the wooden barriers that were placed along a 100 yard stretch in
England during the 1830s. The 100 meter hurdle was featured for the first time during the
Women's World Games held at Pershing Stadium in Paris in August 20, 1922.
110 Meter Hurdles
The event became popular from the wooden barriers that were placed along a 100 yard stretch, in
England during the 1830s. The Oxford and Cambridge universities had developed the
event, increasing its distance to 120 yards (109.7 m) which later was rounded up to 110 m by
the French in 1888. This discipline was added in the 1896 Olympics held at Athens, Greece as
a Men’s event.
400 Meter Hurdles
The very first 440 yard hurdles race was conducted at Oxford, England in 1860. Competitors
had to confront 12 huge (100 cm / 39 inch) wooden barriers that were sunk into the ground.
The 400 m hurdles became a standard discipline for men at the 1900 Olympics, held at Paris,
whereas in case of women it was included as an event after 84 years. Nawal EI Moutawakel of
Morocco won the inaugural women’s Olympic title in 1984, Los Angeles and became the first
female Olympic champion to win an Olympic gold medal for an Islamic nation.
Events
The well-known hurdles events are 110 meters for men, 100 meters for women and 400
meters for both men and women.
These events take place at the Summer Olympics and at the World Athletics Championships.
Earlier in the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics athletics events, 200 meters low hurdle
event was organized. Furthermore, apart from these two Olympic Games, this sport was not
included in other international competitions.
Variants
The variant of hurdles is commonly known as Shuttle Hurdle Relay races. These types of track
meets are usually conducted in relay races. In a Shuttle Hurdle relay, each of the four hurdlers in
a team run in the opposite direction from the preceding runner. The standard races are similar to
the sprint relay races: 4 × 110 m for men and 4 × 100 m for women.
Shuttle Hurdle Relay usually has four teams as the track has only eight lanes. In these eight
lanes, two lanes are taken up by each team. The 1 and 3 number runners in the team run in one
direction down one lane and the 2 and 4 number runners run in the opposite direction in the other
lane.
Instead of using batons, the runners wait for their teammate to finish a certain point to start off
their part but if they start too early they would be disqualified.
Shuttle Hurdle Relay was introduced at the 2019 IAAF World Relays, in which two men and
two women in each team run 110 hurdles.
Equipment
Playing Area
100 meter hurdles (Women only)
These races take place over a 100m straight track consisting of ten hurdles and height
0.840m spread over the track. The first hurdle is 13m from the start, and then a distance of 8.5 m
between hurdles thereafter and the last hurdle is 10.5m from the finish.
110 meter hurdles (Men only)
These races take place over a 110m straight track consisting of ten hurdles and height 1.067m
spread over the track. The first hurdle is 13.72 m from the start, and then a distance 9.14 m
between hurdles thereafter and the last hurdle is 14.02m from the finish.
400 meter hurdles (Men and Women)
These races cover one whole lap of the 400-meter track consisting of ten hurdles height for
male is 0.914, and female 0.762m over the track. The men’s hurdles are 36 inches high while
those of women are 30 inches high.
Weight of Hurdles
10 kg, and width 1.22 to 1.20