100 metres hurdles
The 100 m hurdles are an Olympic track and field athletics discipline run by women. For the race ten hurdles of a height of 84 cm (2-3/4 feet) are placed evenly spaced along a straight course of 100 meters. They are positioned so that they will fall over if bumped into by the runner. Fallen hurdles don't count against runners so long as they don't run into them on purpose. Like the 100 meter sprint the 100 m hurdles is started out of the blocks.
For the 100 m hurdles the first hurdle is placed after a runup of 13 meters from the starting line. The next 9 hurdles are set at a distance of 8.50 meters from each other, and the home stretch from the last hurdle to the finish line is 10.50 meters long.
The Olympic Games had included the 80 m hurdles in the program from 1932 to 1968. Starting with the 1972 Summer Olympics the women's race was lengthened to 100 m hurdles.
The fastest 100 m hurdlers run the distance in a time of around 12.5 seconds. The world record stands at 12.21 seconds (as of February 2006) or the equivalent of 8 meters per second or 28.8 kilometers per hour. This is approximately 1.5 seconds slower than the straight 100 meter sprint race.
Contents
History
The hurdles sprint race has been run by women since the beginning of women's athletics, just after the end of World War I. The distances and hurdle heights varied widely in the beginning. While the men had zeroed in on the 110 m hurdles, the International Women's Sport Federation had registered records for eight different disciplines by 1926 (60 yards/75 cm height, 60 yards/61 cm, 65 yards/75 cm, 83 yards/75 cm, 100 yards/75 cm, 100 yards/61 cm, 120 yards/75 cm, 110 meters/75 cm). At the first Women's World Games in 1922 a 100 m hurdles race was run.
From 1926 until 1968 on only the 80 m distance was run. For the 80 m race women had to clear eight hurdles placed at a distance of 8 meters from each other and a height of 76.2 cm.
Just like with the men's races, until 1935 no more than three hurdles could be pushed over or the runner was disqualified and records were only officially registered if the runner had cleared all her hurdles clean. In 1935, at the same time this rule was abandoned, L-shaped hurdles were introduced that fell over forward easily and greatly reduced the risk of injury to the runner.
The 80 m hurdles was on the list of women's sports demanded by the International Women's Sport Federation for the Olympic Summer Games in 1928, but wasn't included as an Olympic discipline until 1932. Starting with 1949 the 80 m hurdles was one of the disciplines included in the women's Pentathlon.
During the 1960s some experimental races were run over a distance of 100 meters using hurdles with a height of 76.2cm. During the 1968 Summer Olympics a decision was made to introduce the 100 m hurdles using hurdles with a height of 84cm and the first international event in the 100 m hurdles occurred at the European Athletics Championships, which were won by Karin Balzer, GDR.
A summary of the 80 m hurdles as it compares to the 100 m hurdles:
Distance | Number of hurdles |
Height | Distance made up of | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runup | Intervals | Home stretch | |||
80 m | 8 | 76.2cm | 12 m | 8.0 m | 12.0 m |
100 m | 10 | 84.0cm | 13 m | 8.5 m | 10.5 m |
Milestones
80 m hurdles:
- First official time: 13.0 seconds, Ludmila Sychrová, Czechoslovakia, July 6 1926 in Prague
- First official world record: 12.8 seconds (12 4/5), Eva von Bredow, Germany, June 14 1927
- First runner under 12 seconds: 11.8 seconds (11 4/5), Marjorie Clark, South Africa, May 24 1934
- First runner under 11 seconds: 10.9 seconds, Shirley Strickland, Australia, July 24 1952
- Last official world record: 10.2 seconds, Vera Korsakova, USSR, June 16 1968
100 m hurdles:
- First official time registered with hurdles of reduced height (76.2cm): Pamela Kilborn, AUS, November 26 1961 in Newport
- First official time with hurdles of standard height (84cm): 15.1 seconds, Connie Pettersson, USA, May 28 1966 in Kalispell
- First official world record: 13.3 seconds, Karin Balzer, GDR, June 20 1969
- First runner under 13 seconds: 12.9 seconds, Karin Balzer, GDR, September 5 1969
- First runner under 12.5 seconds:
- First runner under 12.3 seconds: 12.29 seconds, Yordanka Donkova BUL, August 17 1986
Most successful athletes
- Shirley Strickland (AUS): two Olympic victories, 1952 and 1956 in the 80 m hurdles
- Gail Devers (USA): three world championships, 1993, 1995, 1999, as well as runner-up at the 1991 and 2001 world championships
80 m hurdles medalists at Olympic Games
Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
1932 | Mildred Didrikson (USA) | Evelyne Hall (USA) | Marjorie Clark (RSA) |
1936 | Trebisonda Valla (ITA) | Anni Steuer (GER) | Elizabeth Taylor (CAN) |
1948 | Fanny Blankers-Koen (NED) | Maureen Gardner (GBR) | Shirley Strickland (AUS) |
1952 | Shirley Strickland (AUS) | Maria Golubnitschaya (USSR) | Maria Sander (FRG) |
1956 | Shirley Strickland (AUS) | Gisela Köhler (GDR) | Norma Thrower (AUS) |
1960 | Irina Press (USSR) | Carole Quinton (GBR) | Gisela Birkemeyer (GDR) |
1964 | Karin Balzer (GDR) | Teresa Ciepły (POL) | Pam Kilborn (AUS) |
1968 | Maureen Caird (AUS) | Pam Kilborn (AUS) | Chi Cheng (TPE) |
100 m hurdles medalists at Olympic Games
Year | Gold | SilVer | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
1972 | Annelie Ehrhardt (GDR) | Valeria Bufanu (ROM) | Karin Balzer (GDR) |
1976 | Johanna Schaller (GDR) | Tatyana Anisimova (USSR) | Natalja Lebedjewa (USSR) |
1980 | Wera Komissowa (USSR) | Johanna Klier (GDR) | Lucyna Langer (POL) |
1984 | Benita Fitzgerald-Brown (USA) | Shirley Strong (GBR) | Michèle Chardonnet (FRA) Kim Turner (USA) |
1988 | Yordanka Donkova (BUL) | Gloria Siebert (GDR) | Claudia Zaczkiewicz (FRG) |
1992 | Voula Patoulidou (GRE) | LaVonna Martin (USA) | Yordanka Donkova (BUL) |
1996 | Ludmila Engquist (SWE) | Brigita Bukovec (SLO) | Patricia Girard-Léno (FRA) |
2000 | Olga Shishigina (KAZ) | Glory Alozie (ESP) | Melissa Morrison (USA) |
2004 | Joanna Hayes (USA) | Olena Krasovska (UKR) | Melissa Morrison (USA) |
100 m hurdles medalists at world championships
Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Bettine Jahn (GDR) | Kerstin Knabe (GDR) | Ginka Zagorcheva (BUL) |
1987 | Ginka Zagorcheva (BUL) | Gloria Uibel (GDR) | Cornelia Oschkenat (GDR) |
1991 | Ludmila Narozhilenko (USSR) | Gail Devers-Roberts (USA) | Natalja Grigorjewa (USSR) |
1993 | Gail Devers (USA) | Marina Asjabina (RUS) | Lynda Tolbert (USA) |
1995 | Gail Devers (USA) | Olga Schischigina (KAZ) | Julia Graudyn (RUS) |
1997 | Ludmilla Engquist (SWE) | Svetla Dimitrova (BUL) | Michelle Freeman (JAM) |
1999 | Gail Devers (USA) | Glory Alozie (ESP) | Ludmilla Engqvist (SWE) |
2001 | Anjanette Kirkland (USA) | Gail Devers (USA) | Olga Shishigina (KAZ) |
2003 | Perdita Felicien (CAN) | Brigede Foster (JAM) | Miesha McKelvy (USA) |
2005 | Michelle Perry (USA) | Dolloreen Ennis London (JAM) | Brigitte Foster Hylton (JAM) |
History of world records
Time | Athlete | Nation | Date | Place |
---|---|---|---|---|
Electronically timed | ||||
12.21 s | Yordanka Donkova | BUL | August 21 1988 | Stara Zagora |
12.25 s | Ginka Zagorcheva | BUL | August 8 1987 | Drama |
12.26 s | Yordanka Donkova | BUL | September 7 1986 | Ljubljana |
12.29 s | Yordanka Donkova | BUL | August 17 1986 | Cologne |
12.34 s | Yordanka Donkova | BUL | August 17 1986 | Cologne |
12.36 s | Grażyna Rabsztyn | POL | June 12 1980 | Warsaw |
12.36 s | Yordanka Donkova | BUL | August 13 1986 | Sofia |
12.48 s | Grażyna Rabsztyn | POL | June 10 1978 | Fürth |
12.48 s | Grażyna Rabsztyn | POL | June 18 1979 | Warsaw |
12.59 s | Annelie Ehrhardt | GDR | September 8 1972 | Munich |
Manually timed | ||||
12.3 s | Annelie Ehrhardt | GDR | July 22 1973 | Dresden |
12.5 s | Annelie Ehrhardt | GDR | June 15 1972 | Potsdam |
12.5 s | Pamela Ryan | AUS | June 28 1972 | Warsaw |
12.6 s | Karin Balzer | GDR | July 31 1971 | Berlin |
12.7 s | Karin Balzer | GDR | July 25 1971 | Berlin |
12.7 s | Karin Balzer | GDR | July 26 1970 | Berlin |
12.7 s | Teresa Sukniewicz | POL | September 20 1970 | Warsaw |
12.8 s | Chi Cheng | TPE | July 12 1970 | Munich |
12.8 s | Teresa Sukniewicz | POL | June 20 1970 | Warsaw |
12.9 s | Karin Balzer | GDR | September 5 1969 | Berlin |
13.0 s | Karin Balzer | GDR | July 27 1969 | Leipzig |
13.3 s | Karin Balzer | GDR | June 20 1969 | Warsaw |
13.3 s | Teresa Sukniewicz | POL | June 20 1969 | Warsaw |
All-time Top Ten
In brackets: Wind in m/s
- 12.21 (+0.7) Yordanka Donkova, BUL, Stara Sagora, August 20 1988
- 12.25 (+1.4) Ginka Zagorcheva, BUL, Drama, August 8 1987
- 12.26 (+1.7) Ludmila Engquist, RUS, Sevilla, June 6 1992
- 12.33 (−0.3) Gail Devers, USA, Sacramento, July 23 2000
- 12.36 (+1.9) Grażyna Rabsztyn, POL, Warsaw, June 13 1980
- 12.37 (+1.5) Joanna Hayes, USA, Athens, August 24 2004
- 12.39 (+1.5) Vera Komissowa, USSR, Rome, August 5 1980
- 12.39 (+1.8) Natalja Grigorjewa, UKR, Kiev, July 11 1991
- 12.42 (+1.8) Bettine Jahn, GDR, Berlin, June 8 1983
- 12.42 (+2.0) Anjanette Kirkland, USA, Edmonton, August 11 2001
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