400 metres hurdles

The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women.

Athletics
400 metres hurdles
Women's 400m hurdles.
World records
Men Kevin Young 46.78 (1992)
Women Dalilah Muhammad 52.16 (2019)
Olympic records
Men Kevin Young 46.78 (1992)
Women Melaine Walker 52.64 (2008)
World Championship records
Men Kevin Young 47.18 (1993)
Women Dalilah Muhammad 52.16 (2019)

On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once around the stadium. Runners stay in their lanes 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 and weighted so that they fall forward if bumped into with sufficient force, to prevent injury to the runners. Although there is no longer any penalty for knocking hurdles over, runners prefer to clear them cleanly, 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 Dalilah Muhammad with 52.16 seconds. Compared to the 400 metres run, the hurdles race takes the men about three seconds longer and the women four seconds longer.

The 400 m hurdles was held for both sexes at the inaugural IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The first championship for women came at the 1980 World Championships in Athletics – being held as a one-off due to the lack of a race at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

History

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 Men's World Champion having been crowned the year before at the inaugural IAAF World Championships in Athletics. A special edition of the Women's 400m Hurdles happened in the 1980 IAAF World Championships in Athletics in response to the Women's 400m Hurdles not being included in the boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics and the Liberty Bell Classic.

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."

Hurdling technique

"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. Athletes and coaches alike have described sprinting the final 100m stretch in the 400m hurdle race as being the most mentally and physically exhausting run they've ever had to complete.

Block start

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.

Hurdling

At the beginning of the take-off, the knee must be driven toward the hurdle and the foot then extended. The leg position when extended must be stretched out, in a position of a split. 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 lean 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

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 disqualification from the race. Depending on the height and strength of the athlete, men work toward a stride pattern of 13 to 15 steps between each hurdle, and women work toward a stride pattern of 15 to 17. This does not include the landing step from the previous hurdle. Weaker athletes will typically hold a longer step pattern throughout the race so that they do not bound or reach with each step, which also results in a loss of speed. These patterns are ideal because it allows the hurdler to take off from their predominant leg throughout the race without switching legs. However, fatigue from the race will knock athletes of their stride pattern and force runners to switch legs. 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 other 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.

All-time top 25 hurdlers

Men

  • Correct as of August 2020.[1][2]
Rank Time Athlete Country Date Place Ref
1 46.78Kevin Young United States6 August 1992Barcelona
2 46.87 Karsten Warholm  Norway 23 August 2020 Stockholm [3]
3 46.98 Abderrahman Samba  Qatar 30 June 2018 Paris [4]
Rai Benjamin  United States 29 August 2019 Zürich [5]
5 47.02 Edwin Moses United States31 August 1983Koblenz
6 47.03Bryan Bronson United States21 June 1998New Orleans
7 47.10Samuel Matete Zambia7 August 1991Zürich
8 47.19Andre Phillips United States25 September 1988Seoul
9 47.23Amadou Dia Ba Senegal25 September 1988Seoul
10 47.24Kerron Clement United States26 June 2005Carson
11 47.25 Félix Sánchez Dominican Republic29 August 2003Saint-Denis
Angelo Taylor United States18 August 2008Beijing
13 47.30Bershawn Jackson United States9 August 2005Helsinki
14 47.37Stéphane Diagana France5 July 1995Lausanne
15 47.38Danny Harris United States10 July 1991Lausanne
16 47.43James Carter United States9 August 2005Helsinki
17 47.48Harald Schmid West Germany8 September 1982Athens
18 47.53Hadi Soua'an Al-Somaily Saudi Arabia27 September 2000Sydney
19 47.54 Derrick Adkins United States5 July 1995Lausanne
Fabrizio Mori Italy10 August 2001Edmonton
Kyron McMaster  British Virgin Islands 30 June 2018 Paris [6]
22 47.60Winthrop Graham Jamaica4 August 1993Zürich
23 47.63Johnny Dutch United States26 June 2010Des Moines
24 47.66 A L. J. van Zyl  South Africa 25 February 2011 Pretoria
47.66 31 May 2011 Ostrava
25 47.67 Bennie Brazell  United States 11 June 2005 Sacramento

Notes

Below is a list of all other times superior to 47.43:

  • Karsten Warholm ran 46.92 (2019), 47.07 (2020), 47.08 (2020), 47.10 (2020), 47.12 (2019), 47.26 (2019), 47.33 (2019), 47.42 (2019), 47.43 (2019).
  • Rai Benjamin ran 47.02 (2018), 47.16 (2019), 47.23 (2019).
  • Edwin Moses ran 47.13 (1980), 47.14 (1981), 47.17 (1980), 47.27 (1981), 47.32 (1984), 47.37 (1981, 1983, 1988), 47.38 (1986), 47.43 (1983).
  • Kevin Young ran 47.18 (1993), 47.37 (1993), 47.40 (1992), 47.42 (1992).
  • Abderrahman Samba ran 47.27 (2019), 47.37 (2018), 47.41 (2018), 47.42 (2018).
  • Bershawn Jackson ran 47.32 (2010).
  • Felix Sanchez ran 47.35 (2002), 47.38 (2001).
  • Kerron Clement ran 47.39 (2006).

Women

As of October 2019[7]

Rank Time Athlete Nation Date Place Ref
1 52.16 Dalilah Muhammad  United States 4 October 2019 Doha [8]
2 52.23 Sydney McLaughlin  United States 4 October 2019 Doha [8]
3 52.34Yuliya Pechonkina Russia8 August 2003Tula
4 52.42Melaine Walker Jamaica20 August 2009Berlin
5 52.47Lashinda Demus United States1 September 2011Daegu
6 52.61Kim Batten United States11 August 1995Gothenburg
7 52.62Tonja Buford-Bailey United States11 August 1995Gothenburg
8 52.70 Natalya Antyukh  Russia 8 August 2012 London [9]
9 52.74Sally Gunnell Great Britain19 August 1993Stuttgart
10 52.75 Shamier Little  United States 25 June 2017 Sacramento [10]
11 52.77Fani Halkia Greece22 August 2004Athens
12 52.79 Sandra Farmer-Patrick United States19 August 1993Stuttgart
Kaliese Spencer Jamaica5 August 2011London
14 52.82Deon Hemmings Jamaica31 July 1996Atlanta
15 52.83Zuzana Hejnová Czech Republic15 August 2013Moscow
16 52.89Daimí Pernía Cuba25 August 1999Seville
17 52.90Nezha Bidouane Morocco25 August 1999Seville
18 52.94Marina Stepanova Soviet Union17 September 1986Tashkent
19 52.95 Sheena Johnson  United States 11 July 2004 Sacramento
Kori Carter  United States 25 June 2017 Sacramento [11]
21 53.02 Irina Privalova Russia27 September 2000Sydney
22 53.11 Tatyana Ledovskaya  Soviet Union 29 August 1991 Tokyo
Ashley Spencer  United States 25 June 2017 Sacramento [12]
28 July 2019 Des Moines [13]
24 53.14 Georganne Moline  United States 25 June 2017 Sacramento [14]
25 53.17Debbie Flintoff-King Australia28 September 1988Seoul

Notes

Below is a list of all other times superior to 52.88.

Milestones

Most successful athletes

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 26 August 1977 until 4 June 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. 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 25 July 1976 (twice in one day) until it was finally broken by Kevin Young at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Edwin Moses

Olympic medalists

Men

Games Gold Silver Bronze
1900 Paris
Walter Tewksbury
 United States
Henri Tauzin
 France
George Orton
 Canada
1904 St. Louis
Harry Hillman
 United States
Frank Waller
 United States
George Poage
 United States
1908 London
Charles Bacon
 United States
Harry Hillman
 United States
Jimmy Tremeer
 Great Britain
1912 Stockholmnot included in the Olympic program
1920 Antwerp
Frank Loomis
 United States
John Norton
 United States
August Desch
 United States
1924 Paris
Morgan Taylor
 United States
Erik Wilén
 Finland
Ivan Riley
 United States
1928 Amsterdam
David Burghley
 Great Britain
Frank Cuhel
 United States
Morgan Taylor
 United States
1932 Los Angeles
Bob Tisdall
 Ireland
Glenn Hardin
 United States
Morgan Taylor
 United States
1936 Berlin
Glenn Hardin
 United States
John Loaring
 Canada
Miguel White
 Philippines
1948 London
Roy Cochran
 United States
Duncan White
 Ceylon
Rune Larsson
 Sweden
1952 Helsinki
Charles Moore
 United States
Yuriy Lituyev
 Soviet Union
John Holland
 New Zealand
1956 Melbourne
Glenn Davis
 United States
Eddie Southern
 United States
Josh Culbreath
 United States
1960 Rome
Glenn Davis
 United States
Clifton Cushman
 United States
Dick Howard
 United States
1964 Tokyo
Rex Cawley
 United States
John Cooper
 Great Britain
Salvatore Morale
 Italy
1968 Mexico City
David Hemery
 Great Britain
Gerhard Hennige
 West Germany
John Sherwood
 Great Britain
1972 Munich
John Akii-Bua
 Uganda
Ralph Mann
 United States
David Hemery
 Great Britain
1976 Montreal
Edwin Moses
 United States
Michael Shine
 United States
Yevgeniy Gavrilenko
 Soviet Union
1980 Moscow
Volker Beck
 East Germany
Vasyl Arkhypenko
 Soviet Union
Gary Oakes
 Great Britain
1984 Los Angeles
Edwin Moses
 United States
Danny Harris
 United States
Harald Schmid
 West Germany
1988 Seoul
André Phillips
 United States
Amadou Dia Ba
 Senegal
Edwin Moses
 United States
1992 Barcelona
Kevin Young
 United States
Winthrop Graham
 Jamaica
Kriss Akabusi
 Great Britain
1996 Atlanta
Derrick Adkins
 United States
Samuel Matete
 Zambia
Calvin Davis
 United States
2000 Sydney
Angelo Taylor
 United States
Hadi Al-Somaily
 Saudi Arabia
Llewellyn Herbert
 South Africa
2004 Athens
Félix Sánchez
 Dominican Republic
Danny McFarlane
 Jamaica
Naman Keïta
 France
2008 Beijing
Angelo Taylor
 United States
Kerron Clement
 United States
Bershawn Jackson
 United States
2012 London
Félix Sánchez
 Dominican Republic
Michael Tinsley
 United States
Javier Culson
 Puerto Rico
2016 Rio de Janeiro
Kerron Clement
 United States
Boniface Mucheru Tumuti
 Kenya
Yasmani Copello
 Turkey

Women

Games Gold Silver Bronze
1984 Los Angeles
Nawal El Moutawakel
 Morocco
Judi Brown
 United States
Cristieana Cojocaru
 Romania
1988 Seoul
Debbie Flintoff-King
 Australia
Tatyana Ledovskaya
 Soviet Union
Ellen Fiedler
 East Germany
1992 Barcelona
Sally Gunnell
 Great Britain
Sandra Farmer-Patrick
 United States
Janeene Vickers
 United States
1996 Atlanta
Deon Hemmings
 Jamaica
Kim Batten
 United States
Tonja Buford-Bailey
 United States
2000 Sydney
Irina Privalova
 Russia
Deon Hemmings
 Jamaica
Nezha Bidouane
 Morocco
2004 Athens
Fani Halkia
 Greece
Ionela Târlea-Manolache
 Romania
Tetyana Tereshchuk-Antipova
 Ukraine
2008 Beijing
Melaine Walker
 Jamaica
Sheena Tosta
 United States
Tasha Danvers
 Great Britain
2012 London
Natalya Antyukh
 Russia
Lashinda Demus
 United States
Zuzana Hejnová
 Czech Republic
2016 Rio de Janeiro
Dalilah Muhammad
 United States
Sara Petersen
 Denmark
Ashley Spencer
 United States

World Championships medalists

Men

Championships Gold Silver Bronze
1983 Helsinki
 Edwin Moses (USA)  Harald Schmid (FRG)  Aleksandr Kharlov (URS)
1987 Rome
 Edwin Moses (USA)  Danny Harris (USA)  Harald Schmid (FRG)
1991 Tokyo
 Samuel Matete (ZAM)  Winthrop Graham (JAM)  Kriss Akabusi (GBR)
1993 Stuttgart
 Kevin Young (USA)  Samuel Matete (ZAM)  Winthrop Graham (JAM)
1995 Gothenburg
 Derrick Adkins (USA)  Samuel Matete (ZAM)  Stéphane Diagana (FRA)
1997 Athens
 Stéphane Diagana (FRA)  Llewellyn Herbert (RSA)  Bryan Bronson (USA)
1999 Seville
 Fabrizio Mori (ITA)  Stéphane Diagana (FRA)  Marcel Schelbert (SUI)
2001 Edmonton
 Félix Sánchez (DOM)  Fabrizio Mori (ITA)  Dai Tamesue (JPN)
2003 Saint-Denis
 Félix Sánchez (DOM)  Joey Woody (USA)  Periklis Iakovakis (GRE)
2005 Helsinki
 Bershawn Jackson (USA)  James Carter (USA)  Dai Tamesue (JPN)
2007 Osaka
 Kerron Clement (USA)  Félix Sánchez (DOM)  Marek Plawgo (POL)
2009 Berlin
 Kerron Clement (USA)  Javier Culson (PUR)  Bershawn Jackson (USA)
2011 Daegu
 Dai Greene (GBR)  Javier Culson (PUR)  L. J. van Zyl (RSA)
2013 Moscow
 Jehue Gordon (TRI)  Michael Tinsley (USA)  Emir Bekrić (SRB)
2015 Beijing
 Nicholas Bett (KEN)  Denis Kudryavtsev (RUS)  Jeffery Gibson (BAH)
2017 London
 Karsten Warholm (NOR)  Yasmani Copello (TUR)  Kerron Clement (USA)
2019 Doha
 Karsten Warholm (NOR)  Rai Benjamin (USA)  Abderrahman Samba (QAT)

Women

  • The official IAAF World Championships in Athletics began in 1983, but in 1980, the women's 3000 metres and 400 metres hurdles events had a World Championship competition in Sittard, Netherlands. This was due to these events not yet being on the Olympic program (the same had happened in 1976 for the men's 50 km walk).[15]
Championships Gold Silver Bronze
1980 Sittard
 Bärbel Broschat (GDR)  Ellen Neumann (GDR)  Petra Pfaff (GDR)
1983 Helsinki
 Yekaterina Fesenko (URS)  Ana Ambrazienė (URS)  Ellen Neumann-Fiedler (GDR)
1987 Rome
 Sabine Busch (GDR)  Debbie Flintoff (AUS)  Cornelia Feuerbach (GDR)
1991 Tokyo
 Tatyana Ledovskaya (URS)  Sally Gunnell (GBR)  Janeene Vickers (USA)
1993 Stuttgart
 Sally Gunnell (GBR)  Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA)  Margarita Ponomaryova (RUS)
1995 Gothenburg
 Kim Batten (USA)  Tonja Buford (USA)  Deon Hemmings (JAM)
1997 Athens
 Nezha Bidouane (MAR)  Deon Hemmings (JAM)  Kim Batten (USA)
1999 Seville
 Daimí Pernía (CUB)  Nezha Bidouane (MAR)  Deon Hemmings (JAM)
2001 Edmonton
 Nezha Bidouane (MAR)  Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS)  Daimí Pernía (CUB)
2003 Saint-Denis
 Jana Pittman (AUS)  Sandra Glover (USA)  Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS)
2005 Helsinki
 Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS)  Lashinda Demus (USA)  Sandra Glover (USA)
2007 Osaka
 Jana Rawlinson (AUS)  Yuliya Pechenkina (RUS)  Anna Jesień (POL)
2009 Berlin
 Melaine Walker (JAM)  Lashinda Demus (USA)  Josanne Lucas (TRI)
2011 Daegu
 Lashinda Demus (USA)  Melaine Walker (JAM)  Natalya Antyukh (RUS)
2013 Moscow
 Zuzana Hejnová (CZE)  Dalilah Muhammad (USA)  Lashinda Demus (USA)
2015 Beijing
 Zuzana Hejnová (CZE)  Shamier Little (USA)  Cassandra Tate (USA)
2017 London
 Kori Carter (USA)  Dalilah Muhammad (USA)  Ristananna Tracey (JAM)
2019 Doha
 Dalilah Muhammad (USA)  Sydney McLaughlin (USA)  Rushell Clayton (JAM)

Season's bests

Notes and references

  1. Larsson, Peter (10 August 2019). "All-time men's best 400m hurdles". Track and Field all-time Performances. Archived from the original on 15 September 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  2. "400 Metres Hurdles Men All Time". IAAF. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  3. "Warholm dazzles with 46.87 performance in Stockholm". World Athletics. 23 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  4. "400m Hurdles Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 30 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  5. Bob Ramsak (29 August 2019). "Warholm sizzles 46.92 in Zurich - IAAF Diamond League". IAAF. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  6. "400m Hurdles Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 30 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  7. "400 Metres Hurdles Women All Time". IAAF. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  8. "400m Hurdles Results" (PDF). IAAF. 4 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  9. "400 Metres Hurdles Results". IAAF. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  10. Roy Jordan (25 June 2017). "Muhammad wins historic 400m hurdles race at US Championships". IAAF. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  11. Roy Jordan (25 June 2017). "Muhammad wins historic 400m hurdles race at US Championships". IAAF. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  12. Roy Jordan (25 June 2017). "Muhammad wins historic 400m hurdles race at US Championships". IAAF. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  13. Roy Jordan (29 July 2019). "Muhammad breaks world 400m hurdles record at US Championships". IAAF. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  14. Roy Jordan (25 June 2017). "Muhammad wins historic 400m hurdles race at US Championships". IAAF. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  15. IAAF World Championships in Athletics. GBR Athletics.
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