110 metres hurdles

For the first hurdles races in England around 1830, wooden barriers were placed along a stretch of 100 yards (91.44 m).

The first standards were attempted in 1864 in Oxford and Cambridge: The length of the course was set to 120 yards (109.7 m) and over its course, runners were required to clear ten 42 inches (106.7 cm) high hurdles; the height and spacing of the hurdles have been related to Imperial units ever since. After the length of the course was rounded up to 110 metres in France in 1888, the standardisation was essentially complete, except that in Germany, 1 metre high hurdles 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 three 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. However, these hurdles are weighted, so it is disadvantageous to hit them.

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 110 metre hurdles have been an Olympic discipline since 1896.

The sprint hurdles are a very rhythmic race because both men and women take 3 steps (meaning 4 foot strikes) between each hurdle, no matter whether running 110/100 metres outdoors, or the shorter distances indoors (55 or 60 metres). In addition, the distance from the starting line to the first hurdle - while shorter for women - is constant for both sexes whether indoors or outdoors, so sprint hurdlers do not need to change their stride pattern between indoor and outdoor seasons. One difference between indoor and outdoors is the shorter finishing distance from the last (5th) hurdle indoors, compared to longer distance from the last (10th) hurdle outdoors to the finish line.

Top male hurdlers traditionally took 8 strides from the starting blocks to the first hurdle (indoors and outdoors). The 8-step start persisted from (at least) the 1950s to the end of the 20th century and included such World- and Olympic champions as Harrison Dillard, Rod Milburn, Greg Foster, Renaldo Nehemiah, Roger Kingdom, Allen Johnson, Mark Crear, Mark McCoy, and Colin Jackson. However, beginning in the 2000s, some hurdle coaches embraced a transition to a faster 7-step start, teaching the men to lengthen their first few strides out of the starting blocks. Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles set his 2008 world record of 12.87 using a 7-step start. Chinese star Liu Xiang won the 2004 Olympics and broke the world record in 2006 utilizing an 8-step approach, but he switched to 7-steps by the 2011 outdoor season. After the 2010 outdoor season, American Jason Richardson trained to switch to a 7-step start and went on to win the 2011 World Championship. American Aries Merritt trained in Fall 2011 to switch from 8 to 7, and then had his greatest outdoor season in 2012 - running 8 races in under 13 seconds - capped by winning the London 2012 Olympics and then setting a world record of 12.80.[1]

Of the 10 men with the fastest 110m hurdle times in 2012, seven used 7-steps, including the top 4: Aries Merritt, Liu Xiang, Jason Richardson, and David Oliver. Hurdle technique experts believe the off-season training required to produce the power and speed necessary to reach the first hurdle in 7 steps, yields greater endurance over the last half of the race. That added endurance allows hurdlers to maintain their top speed to the finish, resulting in a faster time.

A 110m hurdles race at the 2021 Creekside Friday knight invite

In American high school track and field and at many international Under-20 athletics competitions, the 110 metres hurdles are mostly the same as their professional counterparts. The main difference between the high school hurdles and college-level/ professional hurdles is the height. High school hurdles are 39 inches (99.1 cm) inches high while college height hurdles are 42 inches (106.7 cm) tall. This change in height drastically changes the requirements placed on the hurdler to clear the barrier with the same amount of speed. High school hurdling technique is the same as professional except on the higher hurdles everything is exaggerated. As a high schooler makes the transition from the 39’s to the 42’s there are many things they must adjust to, the most prevailing issue is getting down after clearing the hurdle. 39-inch hurdlers are used to the normal sprinting motion right after they get off the hurdle but for a newly transitioned 42-inch hurdler that extra half a second can feel very foreign. The second major difference in technique between 39’s and 42’s is the take-off distance. When a high school hurdler approaches his first hurdle they are putting as much power into each step as possible and attempting to gain all the speed they can so by their eighth step they’ll be about six inches away from the hurdle. When attempting to clear a 42-inch hurdle the athlete can no longer run headfirst into the hurdle with disregard for the height of the hurdle. The newly made college hurdler needs to learn how to shorten their strides so they can take off the ground from farther away to clear a 42-inch barrier.

Both before and after this change of technique world class hurdler, Aries Merritt was an elite level hurdler, at the peak of his high school career Aries Merritt achieved a still standing Wheeler High school record of 13.91 seconds. Almost all top level American hurdlers started their careers in high school including Roger Kingdom at Vienna high school and many more.[2]

The world record in the 110m hurdles at the 39-inch height is 12.72 by Sasha Zhoya, achieved at the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships – Men's 110 metres hurdles in Nairobi, Kenya on 21 August 2021.

• First official IAAF world record: 15.0 seconds, Forrest Smithson (USA), 1908
• First under 15 seconds: 14.8 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
• First under 12.9 seconds: 12.88 seconds, Liu Xiang (CHN), 2006

• Correct as of August 2022.[3]

Ath.#	Perf.#	Time (s)	Wind (m/s)	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref
1	1	12.80	+0.3	Aries Merritt	United States	07 SEP 2012	Brussels	[4]
2	2	12.81	+1.8	Grant Holloway	United States	26 JUN 2021	Eugene	[5]
3	3	12.84	+1.6	Devon Allen	United States	12 JUN 2022	New York City	[6]
4	4	12.87	+0.9	Dayron Robles	Cuba	12 JUN 2008	Ostrava
5	5	12.88	+1.1	Liu Xiang	China	11 JUL 2006	Lausanne
	5	12.88	+0.5	Robles #2		18 JUL 2008	Saint-Denis
6	7	12.89	+0.5	David Oliver	United States	16 JUL 2010	Saint-Denis
7	8	12.90	+1.1	Dominique Arnold	United States	11 JUL 2006	Lausanne
	8	12.90	+1.6	Oliver #2		03 JUL 2010	Eugene
8	8	12.90	+0.7	Omar McLeod	Jamaica	24 JUN 2017	Kingston	[7]
9	11	12.91	+0.5	Colin Jackson	United Kingdom	20 AUG 1993	Stuttgart
	11	12.91	+0.3	Liu #2		27 AUG 2004	Athens
			+0.2	Robles #3		22 JUL 2008	Stockholm
10	14	12.92	−0.1	Roger Kingdom	United States	16 AUG 1989	Zürich
			+0.9	Allen Johnson	United States	23 JUN 1996	Atlanta
	16	12.92	+0.2	Johnson #2		23 AUG 1996	Brussels
			+1.5	Liu #3		02 JUN 2007	New York City
			±0.0	Robles #4		23 SEP 2007	Stuttgart
			−0.3	Merritt #2		08 AUG 2012	London
12	20	12.92	+0.6	Sergey Shubenkov	Russia	02 JUL 2018	Székesfehérvár	[8]
13	21	12.93	−0.1	Renaldo Nehemiah	United States	19 AUG 1981	Zürich
	21	12.93	±0.0	Johnson #3		07 AUG 1997	Athens
			−0.6	Liu #4		09 SEP 2006	Stuttgart
			+0.1	Robles #5		21 AUG 2008	Beijing
			+1.7	Oliver #3		27 JUN 2010	Des Moines
			−0.3	Oliver #4		19 AUG 2010	Zürich
			+1.2	Merritt #3		30 JUN 2012	Eugene
			+0.6	Merritt #4		13 JUL 2012	London
			±0.0	Merritt #5		20 JUL 2012	Monaco
14		12.94	+1.6	Jack Pierce	United States	22 JUN 1996	Atlanta
			+1.5	Hansle Parchment	Jamaica	06 JUL 2014	Saint-Denis	[9]
			+0.5	Orlando Ortega	Cuba	04 JUL 2015	Saint-Denis	[10]
17		12.95	+1.5	Terrence Trammell	United States	02 JUN 2007	New York City
			+0.3	Pascal Martinot-Lagarde	France	18 JUL 2014	Monaco	[11]
19		12.97	+1.0	Ladji Doucoure	France	15 JUL 2005	Angers
20		12.98	+0.6	Mark Crear	United States	05 JUL 1999	Zagreb
			+1.5	Jason Richardson	United States	30 JUN 2012	Eugene
22		12.99	+1.2	Ronnie Ash	United States	29 JUN 2014	Sacramento	[12]
			±0.0	Rasheed Broadbell	Jamaica	26 AUG 2022	Lausanne	[13]
24		13.00	+0.5	Tony Jarrett	United Kingdom	20 AUG 1993	Stuttgart
			+0.6	Anier Garcia	Cuba	25 SEP 2000	Sydney
			+0.8	Daniel Roberts	United States	07 JUN 2019	Austin	[14]
			±0.0	Trey Cunningham	United States	10 JUN 2022	Eugene	[15]
			+0.3	Freddie Crittenden	United States	20 AUG 2022	Freeport	[16]

Athletes with two or more victories at the Olympic Games & World Championships:

5 wins:

• Allen Johnson has won the most 110 m hurdles titles at Olympic and World level, one Olympic (1996) & four World (1995, 1997, 2001, 2003)

3 wins:

• Greg Foster, three World Championship titles, 1983, 1987 & 1991 (also won Olympic silver in 1984)

2 wins:

• Lee Calhoun (USA), two Olympic victories, 1956, 1960
• Roger Kingdom (USA), two Olympic victories, 1984 and 1988
• Colin Jackson (GBR), two World Championship victories, 1993 and 1999 (also won Olympic Silver in 1988)
• Liu Xiang (CHN), Olympic, 2004, World, 2007
• Omar McLeod (JAM), Olympic, 2016, World, 2017

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 110 m hurdles.

• IAAF list of 110-metres-hurdles records in XML