110 metres hurdles
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The 110m Hurdles are an Olympic track and field athletics discipline run by men. For the race ten hurdles of a height of 1.067 m (3-1/2 feet) are placed evenly spaced along a straight course of 110 meters. They are positioned so that they will fall over if bumped into by the runner. Fallen hurdles do not count against runners so long as they do not run into them on purpose. Like the 100 meter sprint the 110m Hurdles is started out of the blocks.
For the 110m Hurdles the first hurdle is placed after a runup of 13.72 meters from the starting line. The next 9 hurdles are set at a distance of 9.14 meters from each other, and the home stretch from the last hurdle to the finish line is 14.02 meters long.
The Olympic Games have included the 110m Hurdles in the program since 1896. The equivalent hurdles race for women was run over a course of 80 meters from 1932 through 1968. Starting with the 1972 Summer Olympics the women's race was lengthened to 100m Hurdles.
The fastest 110m hurdlers run the distance in a time of around 13 seconds. The world record, held by Liu Xiang of China, stands at 12.88 seconds (as of July 2006, and pending ratification by the IAAF) or the equivalent of 8.54 metres per second or 30.75 kilometres per hour. He had previously held the joint world record of 12.91 seconds with Colin Jackson of the UK.
History
For the first hurdles races in England around 1830, wooden barriers were placed along a stretch of 100 yards. The first standards were attempted in 1864 in Oxford and Cambridge: The length of the course was set to 120 yards (109.72 meters) and over its course runners were required to clear ten 3-1/2 feet (1.067m) high hurdles. After the length of hurdles races was rounded up to 110 meters in France from 1888 on, the standards were pretty much complete except for Germany where hurdles of 1 meter height were used until 1907.
The massively constructed hurdles of the early days were first replaced in 1895 with somewhat lighter T-shaped hurdles that runners were able to knock over. However, until 1935 runners were disqualified if they knocked down more than 3 hurdles and records were only recognized if the runner had left all hurdles standing.
In 1935 the T-shaped hurdles were replaced by L-shaped ones that easily fall forward if bumped into and therefore reduce the risk of injury.
The current running style where the first hurdle is taken on the run with the upper body lowered instead of being jumped over and with three steps each between the hurdles was first used by the 1900 Olympic champion, Alvin Kraenzlein.
The 110m Hurdles have been an Olympic discipline since 1896. Women ran it occasionally in the 1920 but it never became generally accepted. From 1926 on women have only run the 80m Hurdles which was increased to 100 meters first starting in 1961 on a trial basis and in 1969 in official competition.
In 1900 and 1904 the Olympics also included a 200m Hurdles race and the IAAF recognized world records for the 200m Hurdles until 1960.
Milestones
- First official IAAF world record: 15.0 seconds, Forrest Smithson (USA), 1908
- First under 14.5 seconds: 14.4 seconds, Earl Thomson (CAN), 1920
- First under 14 seconds: 13.7 seconds, Forrest Towns (USA), 1936
- First under 13.5 seconds: 13.4 seconds, Jack Davis (USA), 1956
- First under 13 seconds: 12.93 seconds, Renaldo Nehemiah (USA), 1981
Most successful athletes
- Current World Record, 12.88 seconds
- *Liu Xiang (CHN), 2006 (pending ratification)
- Two Olympic victories:
- *Lee Calhoun (USA), 1956 and 1960; Roger Kingdom (USA), 1984 and 1988
- Four world championship titles:
- *Allen Johnson (USA), 1995, 1997, 2001 and 2003 as well as Olympic Gold 1996
- Three world championship titles:
- *Greg Foster (USA), 1983, 1987 and 1991
- Two world championship titles:
- *Colin Jackson (GBR), 1993 and 1999 as well as Olympic Silver 1988
110m Hurdles medalists at the Olympic games
110m Hurdles medallists at the World Championships
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Greg Foster (USA) | Arto Bryggare (FIN) | Willie Gault (USA) |
| 1987 | Greg Foster (USA) | Jon Ridgeon (GBR) | Colin Jackson (GBR) |
| 1991 | Greg Foster (USA) | Jack Pierce (USA) | Tony Jarrett (GBR) |
| 1993 | Colin Jackson (GBR) | Tony Jarrett (GBR) | Jack Pierce (USA) |
| 1995 | Allen Johnson (USA) | Tony Jarrett (GBR) | Roger Kingdom (USA) |
| 1997 | Allen Johnson (USA) | Colin Jackson (GBR) | Igor Kovác (SLO) |
| 1999 | Colin Jackson (GBR) | Anier Garcia (CUB) | Duane Ross (USA) |
| 2001 | Allen Johnson (USA) | Anier Garcia (CUB) | Dudley Dorival (HAI) |
| 2003 | Allen Johnson (USA) | Terrence Trammell (USA) | Liu Xiang (CHN) |
| 2005 | Ladji Doucoure (FRA) | Liu Xiang (CHN) | Allen Johnson (USA) |
History of world records
All-time top ten
In brackets: Wind measured in m/s. A = Time achieved at high altitude
- 12.88 (1.1) Liu Xiang, CHN, Lausanne, July 11 2006 (pending ratification)
- 12.90 (1.1) Dominique Arnold, USA, Lausanne, July 11 2006 (pending ratification)
- 12.91 (0.3) Liu Xiang, CHN, Athens, August 27 2004
- 12.91 (0.5) Colin Jackson, GBR, Stuttgart, August 20 1993
- 12.92 (-0.1) Roger Kingdom, USA, Zurich, August 16 1989
- 12.92 (0.9) Allen Johnson, USA, Atlanta, June 23 1996
- 12.93 (-0.2) Renaldo Nehemiah, USA, Zurich, August 19 1981
- 12.94 (1.6) Jack Pierce, USA, Atlanta, June 22 1996
- 12.97 (1.0) Ladji Doucouré, FRA, Angers, July 15 2005
- 12.98 (0.6) Mark Crear, USA, Zagreb, July 5 1999
- 13.00 (0.5) Tony Jarrett, GBR, Stuttgart, August 20 1993
- 13.00 (0.6) Anier García, CUB, Sydney, September 25 2000
Reference
Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent German-language wikipedia article (retrieved February 5, 2006).For extensive Mens High Hurdles records, please see [High Hurdle Stats]
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