How to Hurdle

The 110 high hurdles is unlike any other sprint in track and field. While running full speed, you must clear ten 42″ hurdles in stride while attempting to reach the finish line first. The event requires speed, technique, and most importantly, rhythm for success.

Over the past ten years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with some very good hurdle coaches and have done my best to pick their brains. In this article, I’ll share a few of the most important drills I’ve learned and explain how to implement them to achieve greater results.

In the 110 hurdles, the keys to success are to keep the hips high (closer to the height of the hurdle) and maintain a forward lean to ensure constant acceleration. Above all, you must run your fastest. Running fast should go without saying. But as you get caught up in the finer details of the event, you often find yourself running down the track thinking about what to do. This is a prime example of what not to do when the gun goes off. Thinking about, and working on, the technical aspects of the race is saved for practice. When it’s time to race, your intention must always be to run your fastest to cross the finish line.

Here are four drills that will help:

1. 1-step drill
2. Schery tops
3. Cycle ladder
4. Ladji drill

The 1-Step Drill

I learned about the 1-step drill in 2002 as a senior in high school while browsing AOL. I found many drills for improving technique and speed and, naturally, tried everything. I was lucky enough to have a coach that allowed me to experiment in practice, and this allowed me to find my own style and succeed to a greater degree than the average hurdler.

The 1-step drill is still my absolute favorite hurdle drill, and I believe it should be a part of every hurdler’s arsenal. The drill helps mimic the feeling of adrenaline when running full speed over the hurdles. This is very hard to replicate at sub-maximal speeds, but the 1-step drill does this very well in only 7-8 steps, the distance between the hurdles.

Some coaches believe this drill should not be performed because it doesn’t always follow proper mechanics or because it ingrains an improper cut step. In truth, as you begin to perform the drill better, it fixes all of these errors. At first, you’ll find it very mechanical and slow, but over time, you’ll develop a rhythm and establish the habit of reacting to the hurdles. This is exactly how to clear the hurdles at top speed.

To perform the drill, simply set up at least 3 hurdles anywhere from 6-10 feet apart and move through them in a 1-step fashion.

To truly master the drill, first focus on executing proper mechanics over the hurdles:

1. Lean forward
2. Dorsi flex
3. Drive the heel to the hip
4. Finish extension into the hurdle (through the takeoff leg)
5. Drive the leg straight down to the track (off the hurdle)

https://player.vimeo.com/external/165668328.sd.mp4?s=826ee1d368441e2e3386384fe0587e51f189ab07&profile_id=165
Video 1. Here is a full training session with cues for mastering the 1-step drill.

As an athlete, you eventually want to develop an instant “bounce” over all hurdles. You want to literally glue the heel, while dorsiflexed, to the hip and feel the hips directly on top of the hurdles. This will take many, many reps to master, but it creates the exact sensation that you want. After hundreds of reps, you should not feel the movements themselves. Instead, you’ll the feel of the hip directly on top of the hurdles and have a continuous movement through all hurdles, instantly.

Schery Tops

I call this drill Schery tops because I was introduced to it by former coach Alfredo Schery. Coach Schery was formerly with the Cuban national team and has worked with some of the best hurdlers in the world. The drill is very simple, but may be a little challenging to perform at first because of the timing. The concept is very simple: continue to move down the track in a straight leg fashion to instill the sensation of a proper cut step.

The cut step is the most important step for sprint hurdles as it directly influences the parabolic flight over the hurdle and determines the velocity at which you clear the hurdle.

The proper cut step is placed directly beneath the hips, with absolutely no drop in the hips, at takeoff. This is precisely what the Schery tops help you achieve.

Before attempting the Schery tops, you should be able to perform the straight leg drill.

https://player.vimeo.com/external/165664747.hd.mp4?s=e6a898972df6484ddbeb73ba9bbeed03622af8c8&profile_id=174
Video 2. How to perform the Schery tops.

The key to this drill is to allow momentum to take you over the hurdles without extra effort on your part. It will feel awkward because the timing will be so fast and so smooth that the entire clearance of the hurdles will feel off. But if you want to take your hurdling to new levels, you have to forget the old (what you thought was right) and get comfortable with the new and its weird timing. It’s important not to push to clear the hurdles as many athletes attempt to do.

1. Keep the knees locked
2. Allow the arms to swing
3. Raise the heels straight up into the hips (with feet dorsiflexed)
4. Continue moving with the knees locked

Cycle Ladder

The cycle ladder is a variation of the cycle drill taught to me by my former coach Steve McGill, the best hurdles coach in the world. The cycle drill is designed to help teach the proper cycle over the hurdles and helps develop the habit of continuing to move the limbs throughout hurdle clearance.

The cycle ladder differs in that the hurdles are set at increasing distances to help develop the quick feet required between hurdles without taxing the nervous system too much. The setup also helps those who have trouble 3-stepping get used to taking off further and further away from the hurdle.

To perform the drill, set the hurdles at increasing distances of 2 feet per hurdle. The cycle ladder drill allows beginners to get comfortable with the 3-step rhythm while gradually building their confidence to accomplish this at the regular race distance.
I like to perform the drill with the hurdles spaced 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 feet apart. The feet have to move very quickly between the first 2 hurdles, and the objective is to keep moving just as quickly as the spacing increases and you move down the track.

https://player.vimeo.com/external/165664749.hd.mp4?s=7694ebf23d4153d2f3331968fa241c8a5304f590&profile_id=119
Video 3. Demonstration of the cycle ladder drill.

When performing the drill, continue pumping the arms up and down and focus on bringing the feet up into the hips (dorsiflexed) and straight back down to the ground. Do not allow the lead leg to swing forward or the trail leg to swing wide. Keep everything tight and moving up and down.

Cues:

• In mid-flight, prepare to move the feet very quickly on the ground
• Stay forward, stay forward, stay forward
• The trail leg should feel like it lands directly beside the lead leg
• Keep the rhythm the same throughout the drill (take off from further in front of the hurdle)
• Don’t increase the stride length to cover the distance between hurdles.

Ladji Drill

I’ve only seen this drill performed by Ladji Doucoure of France and, since I don’t know the drill’s name, I named it after him. I began implementing the Ladji drill in my own training with much success.

I’ve seen three hurdlers race who raised my adrenaline because they moved so fast and so aggressively it seemed they could crash at any moment: Renaldo Nehemiah, Larry Wade (former coach of mine), and Ladji Doucoure. In my opinion, Doucoure had the fastest lead leg of any hurdler because there was absolutely no air time when he cleared the hurdles. Many hurdlers have “fast” lead legs, but Ladji was amazing to watch because he was also almost too fast. (Not even possible right?) He often crashed in big meets because the lead leg got so far ahead that the trail leg (hip clearance) had a hard time keeping up. But when he didn’t crash, he usually won.

To perform the drill, turn the hurdle upside down and stand with one foot on the hurdle rail and the other foot behind the crossbar for balance. Shift all your weight forward onto the lead leg and allow gravity to take control as the leg moves down. As gravity pulls the lead leg to the ground, quickly pull the trail leg up to avoid catching it on the crossbar. The drill is actually difficult to explain. Watch the 30-second video below to see how it’s performed.

https://player.vimeo.com/external/165664746.hd.mp4?s=b77e1f1c5b69de6e213047ae30fe1c4b294f03de&profile_id=174
Video 4. Demonstration of the Ladji drill.

I began performing this drill in my living room over small obstacles. Eventually I tried it during practice. You can perform it with the hurdle at varying heights, but for the best results, use a 42” hurdle height. This will allow you to more closely mimic the split (separation of the legs) in the race. Do not try to jump or clear the hurdle, simply hang your leg on the rail, shift your weight forward, and allow gravity to do the rest.

There are many great drills a 110 hurdler can perform, but these four will give you greater success and faster times. Be sure to follow my blog and newsletter for more at SprintHurdles and, as always, run fast and make them chase you.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Before you can run fast in the sprint hurdles, you must learn to 3-step. Sometimes athletes can 3-step without having to learn, but you will most likely work with beginners who need to be taught how to do so at full speed and full race distance.

Whether you are a 12-year-old sprinting over 30-inch hurdles to 80 meters, or a 24-year-old sprinting over 42-inch hurdles to 110 meters, the race is absolutely the same. Learning technique is very important as a hurdler, but it is good for nothing if you cannot run full speed over the hurdles in rhythm. Three steps are all you get to create as much speed as possible, and the athlete who can do so without crashing wins.

The key to helping hurdlers 3-step as soon as possible is to get them running and sprinting over the hurdles with only three steps, at whatever distance necessary.

• Phase 1 – Ingrain Rhythm
• Phase 2 – Push Rhythm to Max
• Phase 3 – Adapt to Race Distance

These are the three phases to learning to 3-step. In this article, I am going to show you how keeping the hurdles close is the key to building the good habits and confidence your athletes need to 3-step in races.

First, though, I need to answer the question: “What height should the hurdles be placed at?” The hurdles should be at their lowest height year round. Just as I never allow my beginners to run over race-distance hurdles in practice, I also never allow them to practice over race-height hurdles. This goes back to allowing them to progress properly before advancing.

Advanced hurdlers (who can already 3-step) will work for most of the season with the hurdles placed one notch lower than race height (36 inches for my high school boys, 30 inches for my high school girls). But, once again, they will rarely—if ever—run full speed with the hurdles at 39 (or 33) inches in practice.

Phase 1: Learn the Rhythm

All of my hurdlers, no matter if they’re youth or advanced, begin the season performing three hurdle drills:

1. The One-Step Drill
2. The Cycle Drill
3. The Cycle Ladder Drill

These drills help ingrain a good 3-step rhythm before putting the spikes on and running full speed. With about two solid weeks of nothing but these three drills, all hurdlers should establish a good rhythm and execute sound fundamental technique. It is with these three drills that beginners will begin to feel comfortable clearing the hurdles in rhythm, so they should perform the drills as long as it takes to establish a good rhythm.

Hurdlers learn to establish a rhythm by practicing the one-step, cycle and cycle ladder drills. Click To Tweet

Many coaches will want to rush straight into running full speed over the hurdles on Day One, or at least Week One, but I caution against this. The faster hurdlers go, the quicker it sinks in and becomes automatic to the nervous system. If you begin with sprinting at full speed on Day One with bad rhythm and form, you will ingrain bad hurdling and it will have to be undone somewhere down the line in the future.

The One-Step Drill

The one-step drill should start at 6-7 feet apart with the hurdles as low as possible. Move over the hurdles and work to establish consistency and rhythm. You will know when an athlete has learned the one-step drill when they display rhythm over the hurdles.

Begin with five hurdles and, as they learn to clear them faster, advance to seven and 10 hurdles. They will eventually find that “automatic” movement over the hurdles—that is rhythm. This is what you will work to get them to feel over the hurdles at full speed. Although the journey will be long, this early experience with rhythm will make it that much easier because you will now know exactly what to chase.

Coaching Cues:

1. Stay Forward
2. Swing the Arms
3. Heels-to-Hips

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Video 1: Clint performs the one-step drill for the first time. As he progresses, his movements become “automatic,” which is precisely what you want to happen for your hurdlers. A successful one-step drill results in an obvious rhythm displayed when moving over the hurdles.

The Cycle Drill

All athletes over 11 years old will be able to 3-step between hurdles spaced 15 feet apart, which is why this is the perfect starting distance for the cycle drill. Again, the key is to watch for rhythm over the hurdles. Simply moving over them without having to stop is a good start, but there must eventually be an automatic reaction to the hurdles with an emphasis on moving forward.

Coaching Cues:

1. Stay Forward
2. Swing the Arms
3. Heels-to-Hips

The drill should start at 15 feet apart, but your hurdlers should be able to progress fairly quickly from there. Once they can perform the drill with all hurdles at 17-18 feet apart, they can progress to the cycle ladder drill.

Video 2: In the cycle drill, the hurdler focuses on pumping their arms and bringing their heels straight up and straight down, with their body leaning forward. The lead leg should not come out towards the hurdle and the trail leg should not go wide.

The Cycle Ladder Drill

The cycle ladder drill will challenge hurdlers to clear increasing hurdle distances without shocking the system with full-speed running. The drill should be executed exactly like the cycle drill, but there must now be an emphasis on driving the trail leg down to the track off the hurdles. The trail leg should land close to the lead leg and it should give a noticeable push forward.

Coaching Cues:

1. Stay Forward
2. Swing the Arms
3. Heels-to-Hips

The drill should begin with the first two hurdles spaced 11 feet apart and increase by 2 feet every hurdle.

• 5 Hurdles
• 11-13-15-17 feet

After they can move through these hurdles in rhythm, I replace the last hurdle with the first and add 2 feet. The progression would be:

• 5 Hurdles
• 13-15-17-19 feet

Once the hurdlers can perform this drill in rhythm through about 20 feet, they will be ready to begin taking full-speed runs over the hurdles.

Video 3: Hurdlers doing the cycle ladder drill should pump their arms and cycle their legs from their hips to the ground, keeping their body leaning forward. The trail leg should feel like it’s landing next to the lead leg as it drives down to the track, and that action from the trail leg should push the hurdler to the next hurdle. Hurdles are moved as per the detailed progression above.

Phase 2: Push the Rhythm

Your athletes very likely did not master hurdle drills in two weeks, but they should have found rhythm and be comfortable clearing the hurdles. Now it’s time to introduce some speed.

Since there are meets to be run and championships to be won, you must advance to the next phase of training. If, however, you have a few months to train before your first competition, you could certainly take as long as you needed to truly master the three drills above.

After a few weeks of solid hurdle drills, athletes will have good form and rhythm, but will not be ready for full speed at race distance. The cycle ladder drill finishes at 19-20 feet (23-24 for advanced hurdlers) but the race distance is (approximately) 27 feet (28-30 for 100/110h) in between hurdles. That is a 7-foot difference for youth hurdlers and one that simply would not be covered in a 3-steps sprint yet. Forcing them to attempt the distance at full speed would only destroy the weeks (or months) of drilling and ultimately slow their progress.
The very first full-speed workout you should perform with hurdlers of all ages is Jammed Hurdling.

For youth hurdlers, jammed hurdling is 4 feet closer than race distance. So, where the race distance for youth is (approximately) 27 feet, the hurdles in practice should be set up at 23 feet apart. This may seem like an exaggeration, but, believe me, it is not when you are working with beginners. Remember: You want to get them to run between hurdles in order to develop good habits and instill confidence. Therefore, you should always keep the hurdles as close as necessary to ensure they are running.

Train hurdlers for speed with jammed and bunched hurdling before attempting full race distance. Click To Tweet

Advanced hurdlers would start the hurdles at the jammed distance as well, but since they already 3-step without thinking about it, they can begin with the hurdles 27 feet apart (3 feet closer).

Bunched Hurdling is the next progression for learning to 3-step, and it is simply taking the hurdles and moving them 1 foot closer to the race mark. For youth hurdlers, this would be 3 feet closer than race distance, or (approximately) 24 feet apart. Advanced hurdlers would be the same, with bunched being around 2 feet closer (28 feet apart).

Video 4: Here is a look at one of my youth hurdlers this past summer, performing full-speed hurdling at the jammed and bunched distances. You can see that she was not running in between the hurdles on the first rep. However, as she progressed and developed the habit, I moved her out to bunched spacings and she continued to adapt quickly.

You must have patience. Don’t assume that hurdlers who performed drills well during Phase 1 will instantly be able to hurdle at full speed. They are beginners and you must allow them to develop at their own pace.

Phase 3: Adapt to Race Distance

The last phase for learning to 3-step is over-speed hurdling, aka 5-stepping.

To 5-step, simply remove a hurdle from the track.

• 1-2-3-4-5

becomes

• 1-2-3-removed-5

Many hurdlers will “bail out” on their first or second attempt, but in my experience they can usually complete the repetition by the third try. If not, move the fifth hurdle 1 foot closer (moving them closer is always the answer).

At the end of the 5-step run, there will be a sixth hurdle with only enough space for three steps, but slightly farther than what they’ve been running over. This will allow them to adapt to a farther hurdle distance, without allowing their doubts to creep in.
Here is the way to set up the workout in order to have your hurdler learn to cover the distance at 25 feet, by 5-stepping between the third and fifth hurdles.

• 1-2-3-4-5-6
• Hurdles 1-5 are bunched (24 feet apart)
• Hurdles 6 is bunched +1 (25 feet apart)

Now remove the fourth hurdle, so that there is room to 5-step between the third and fifth hurdles.

This setup will allow them to move through the first three hurdles at the distance they were last training at, build extra speed through the 5-step zone, and clear the sixth hurdle at a distance they had not previously covered before (bunched+1).

In the example with my youth hurdlers this summer (Video 4), we began full-speed hurdling with the hurdles jammed (23 feet apart), and then bunched (24 feet apart), and finally performed the first 5-step workout with the sixth hurdle at the 25-foot distance.

Here is an example of how the progression would help hurdlers clear greater distances with the 5-step workout:

• Hurdles 1-5 at 24 feet apart
• Hurdle 6, 25 feet from the fifth hurdle (this is the new distance)
• Now remove the fourth hurdle for the 5-step zone (between the third and fifth hurdles)

In this example, the hurdler would 3-step over the first three hurdles, 5-step to the fifth hurdle, and clear the sixth hurdle at the new distance of 25 feet.

When it looks good at 25 feet, you can increase the distance between hurdles 5 and 6 to 26 feet, and so on and so forth until they are within 1-2 feet of race distance.

If they do not 3-step their first race, you simply continue on with the over-speed hurdling, and gradually get them closer to race distance.

Successful Accomplishment of the 3-Step

These are the only three phases necessary to get athletes 3-stepping. The accomplishment usually comes early in the season, which gives you enough time to get Hurdle Volume and Rhythm-Endurance work in before the championship season begins.

When they follow this progression, most of your hurdlers will learn to 3-step before the season starts, and the full progression will allow them to not only 3-step, but continue setting personal best times all the way through the end of the championship season.

I hope this has been informative and you have learned how to successfully help your beginners learn to 3-step. If you would like to learn more, join my Hurdle Rhythm Training Series to learn all of the drills and workouts in detail, and how to prepare for championship season with hurdle endurance and rhythm endurance workouts.

Run Fast. Make Them Chase You. — Coach Cotto

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

When Keni Harrison set the new World Record (WR) for 100m hurdles with a time of 12.20 in July 2016, she erased the 28-year-old record of 12.21 set by Bulgaria’s Yordanka Donkova.

How did Harrison manage to beat Donkova’s time? To find the answer, I dug into the archives of rare and/or unpublished data from Bulgarian studies, and I used my high-speed cameras to capture the world’s best hurdlers.

When Harrison crossed the finish line, the time displayed on the screen was 12.58. But for spectators, Harrison seemed too fast and the rest of the field too far behind for this time to be true.

Yes, Harrison ran 12.20 and no, she did not lean under the photocells. To be exact, Harrison’s time was 12.194. Why did the time 12.58 appear first? There’s a bug in the timing system.

Before analyzing Harrison’s race, I’ll explain how the timing works.

The Timing Bug

OMEGA uses two pairs of photoelectric cells on the finish line so that a time can be shown instantly. Actually reading and interpreting the photo finish takes additional seconds, sometimes minutes. In one case it took years: Donkova’s 12.35 WR in Cologne in 1986 was submitted as 12.34 to the IAAF for ratification, but a closer examination of the photo finish showed 12.35.

One pair of cells is placed 1.10m high from the ground, the second at 1.25m. To stop the clock and to prevent false times (caused by such things as a runner’s hand or a flying animal), both cells must detect movement. This time appears on the stadium board and TV screens. In Harrison’s WR race in London, the clock showed 12.58, which turned out to be the time for the second finisher, Brianna Rollins.

Did Harrison lean too low and go below the radar? No, it’s unlikely, unless a runner dives over the finish line. This did happen recently during the Rio Olympics when Shaunae Miller dived across the finish line in the 400m race. The timing bug also occurred in this race. The screen displayed Miller’s time as 49.51, but the photo finish showed Miller ran 49.44, and Allyson Felix got 49.51.

Miller’s finish followed Kumari Taki’s dive to win the 5000m final at 2016 World U20 Championships:

See more

Kumari Taki ?? wins U20 1500 lm world title with style #Bydgoszcz2016 #photofinish pic.twitter.com/EONqqPdCoe

— Pierre-Jean Vazel (@pjvazel) July 22, 2016

Harrison’s World Record Finish

This photo sequence shows Harrison’s finish:

Figure 1A. Harrison closes to the finish line and the two pairs of cells (black circles on the finish line).

Figure 1B. Harrison’s head meets the upper cell, as indicated by the small red light signal.

Figure 1C. Harrison’s torso meets the lower cell, but there’s too much delay between the two events, and the system doesn’t recognize her as the same object so the clock does not stop.

Figure 2A. The second runner, Rollins, closes to the finish line while the clock is still running.

Figure 2B. Rollins’ body (and possibly Kristi Castlin’s head) meets both cells virtually at the same time, as seen by the small red lights, and she stops the clock at 12.58. After reading the photo finish, Rollins’ time must have been between 12.561 and 12.570 to be attributed an official time of 12.57, according to IAAF rules. OMEGA has released Harrison’s unofficial time to the thousandth: 12.194.

The World Record Race

I combined the data from Bulgarian records with footage of Harrison’s race from videos showing various points of view: three high-speed and four normal speed cameras; two front planes; four panoramic sagittal planes at the start, middle and finish of the race; and one traveling sagittal plane. During the 12.20 race, I recorded times for each interval (8.50m between obstacles) taken at the time of contact of each landing after a hurdle.

2.49, 3.49, 4.45, 5.40, 6.33, 7.27, 8.21, 9.15, 10.11, 11.10

After a 0.149 reaction time, Harrison led the race, passing the 10m mark in 1.98, which the best sprinters achieve during world class 100m finals. I don’t have Donkova’s 10m time for her 12.21 WR, but for her 12.29 WR in 1986, she did 2.01.

Because Harrison didn’t land her leading foot close to the hurdle, her time at the first hurdle is not the fastest ever recorded. Cornelia Oschkenat was timed by Dr. Miskos (Athletics Laboratory UV CSTV, Prague) at 2.47 at the first hurdle during her semifinal at the 1987 World Championships and in 2.48 for 60m hurdles at the European Athletics Indoor Championships (European Indoor) and 7.77 in 1988.

During her career, Donkova tried to use 7 steps to the first hurdle instead of the traditional 8 and managed to decrease her time at the first hurdle touchdown. But then her times slowed down in the race’s first couple of intervals. Since her acceleration pattern suffered, she stuck with the 8-step approach.

It’s interesting to note that the 7-step has been tried for a long time; the first woman under 13 sec. electric time, Chi Cheng, 12.93 in 1970, used 7 steps. But, the 7-step has never really clinched for female hurdlers, unlike their male counterparts. From the start line to the first hurdle, the 13m distance is a closer match to women’s usual sprinting acceleration pattern as opposed to men’s who have a 13.72m distance.

The unit analysis shows that Harrison reached her top speed between the 5th and 6th hurdle, after about 6 sec, similar to normal times recorded for 100m dash sprinters.

1.00, 0.96, 0.95, 0.93, 0.94, 0.94, 0.94, 0.96, 0.99

Donkova’s 12.21 race is yet to be seen on video. The race that’s available on YouTube titled Women’s 100m Hurdles World Record is not the 12.21 race on August 20, 1988, in Stara Zagora. It’s been said the racers ran in the opposite direction to take advantage of the wind. And, as strange as it sounds, only four women were competing. One did not finish and the second place winner was timed at 14.74.

Donkova, then, won by a 2.53 margin. Her touchdown times have never been published outside Bulgaria, and I’m happy to share them:

2.50, 3.47, 4.42, 5.34, 6.24, 7.19, 8.16, 9.14, 10.11, 11.14

0.97, 0.95, 0.92, 0.90, 0.95, 0.97, 0.98, 0.97, 1.03

Note: These times should be taken with a grain of salt because it’s very unusual for an athlete to lose 0.05 from one interval to another, and the 0.90 unit is dodgy.

Excluding Donkova’s possibly not-so-accurate intervals, 0.94 is the fastest unit I’ve found for her, and 0.93 is the fastest unit I know of during 100m hurdles. A 0.94 interval is quick enough to run 12.20, according to the models published in East Germany and the Soviet Union as well as my own recent models using the latest analysis.

A compilation of the all-time best interval units shows that Harrison achieved an outstanding top speed.

• 1-2H 0.97 Lolo Jones (7.72 Doha WI ’10)
• 2-3H 0.95 Gail Devers (12.46 Stuttgart WC ’93), 0.95 Keni Harrison (12.24 Eugene ’16)
• 3-4H 0.93 Lyudmila Narozhilenko (7.68 San Sebastian ’93), Lolo Jones (7.72 Doha WI ’10)
• 4-5H 0.93 Keni Harrison (12.20 London ’16)
• 5-6H 0.93 Brianna Rollins (12.34 Eugene NC ’16)
• 6-7H 0.94 Several women
• 7-8H 0.94 Gloria Uibel (12.44 Roma WC ’87), Keni Harrison (12.20 London ’16)
• 8-9H 0.95 Brianna Rollins (12.26 Des Moines NC ’13)
• 9-10H 0.97 Ginka Zagorcheva (12.34 Roma WC ’87)

To determine a theoretical time for a perfect 100m hurdles race, I added the total of these best world times to the 2.47 approach by Oschkenat and the 0.98 time between the touchdown at last hurdle and the finish line by Devers at 1993 World Championship.

The result is 11.96 for the perfect 100m hurdles. Of course, this is hypothetical because it doesn’t take into account energy distribution.

The perfect time, hypothetically, for 100m hurdles is 11.96. Click To Tweet

Hurdling Technique

It’s a persistent myth that hurdle clearance time is the most important factor in competition results. At the 1991 World Championships, Japanese bio-mechanicians recorded participants’ flight times over the hurdles and run times between hurdles. The results showed that run times have a higher correlation with the final time.

Run times between hurdles, not clearance times, have a higher correlation with final time. Click To Tweet

Yet total run times are not Harrison’s strong suit. Adding in her 9 interval runs without taking into account her hurdle clearance time, her 6.14 is not among the best ever.

Former World Champions Narozhilenko (12.28) and Devers (12.37) and African record holder Glory Alozie (12.44) have sub-6 sec totals.

Harrison’s total hurdle clearance times, 2.76 for 10 hurdles, is among the best. The 1982 European champion, Lucyna Kalek (12.44), and Ginnie Powell (12.45) have a 2.74, and Cindy Billaud did 2.75 for her French record (12.56).

Harrison maintained her shortest hurdle clearance time of 0.27 almost all through the race, while several other women might have hit 0.25 or 0.26, as recorded at 1991 World Championships, but failed to maintain this rhythm.

Donkova, who was a sharp technician, achieved a personal best hurdle clearance of only 0.28 during her 12.21 WR. This is not where she improved over the years. In 1980, she had a 0.31 clearance when she was a 13.24 hurdler while she decreased her run time from 0.73 to 0.64.

It turns out, Harrison has the best combination of all hurdlers.

Of all hurdlers, Keni Harrison has the best combination of flight times and run times. Click To Tweet

The first step after the hurdle is important since that’s where the hurdler accelerates after losing speed from the takeoff in front of the obstacle. The runner also loses velocity during each foot contact so foot contact should be as short as possible.

This is where Donkova excelled with the best times, especially during takeoff, when her contact times were as short as 0.09. She was even timed at 0.083 before the 8th hurdle during the 12.21 WR.

Harrison’s takeoff time is slightly over 0.100 but, at touchdown after the hurdle, she is faster than Donkova at 0.08 vs. 0.083. Only Sally Pearson (12.28 for her 2011 World title) has done better.

Harrison deviates from the model with long air time after the first step. This could explain why, by the third step, she sometimes gets too close to the hurdles. From the front-plane view, you can see that she does side steps. She’s actually running more than 100m.

Training

To achieve 0.93 units in competition, hurdlers work on time or the corresponding speed, 9.14 m/s, by using shorter distances between the hurdles. Harrison has hit 0.92 with 8.25m distance, which is 8.96 m/s, according to her coach, Edrick Floreal. At warm-up before her WR, Harrison used much shorter 7.50m intervals and had best interval times of 0.82-0.83, which is 9.14-9.04 m/s.

Interestingly, Donkova didn’t use distances shorter than 8.10 because her coach believed it would create a different rhythm pattern. They favored 8.15-8.50m intervals.

In August 1988, just days before the 12.21 WR, Donkova ran a significant training workout of 110m with 12 hurdles and 11 intervals at 8.30m distance. The first 5 intervals were run at an average 0.928, exactly as she did during the 12.21 competition, and the remaining 6 in 0.95, demonstrating great top speed and endurance speed.

Flat Speed

The annual progression of the two best hurdlers shows that the differential between 100m hurdle and 100m times, often referred as technical index, improves steeply in their first years and then stagnates.

Keep in mind that their peak 100m times are underestimated because they ran too few races to accurately display their actual potential.

In May 2016, Harrison ran a 100m in 11.35 (0.7), and she called this a bad race. In a properly executed performance, she should be able to run 0.2 faster.

This would be better than Donkova, whose 11.27 personal best (PB) was set in 1982 (0.5) a week after setting the World Leader with 12.44. She must have run faster in the following years if the wind had not been negative for the few occasions she lined up: -1.2 for 11.42 in 1983, -1.2 for 11.44 in 1986, -3.0 for 11.44 in 1987.

Based on Donkova’s best training handheld times, probably achieved in advantageous conditions (wind and altitude), I’ve estimated the corresponding electric times (by adding 0.60):

• 30m 4.16 (100m projection time according to my model: 10.96)
• 60m 7.00 (100m projection: 10.90)
• 100m 10.98

She was probably worth around 11.10 if we also consider her anchor leg times in relays:

• 1987: 10.23 European Cup (fastest of the field, times in the open 100m/anchor relay leg: Marlies Göhr 10.95/10.37, Ewa Kasprzyk 11.45/10.50)
• 1988: 10.26 Olympic Games (Evelyn Ashford 10.83/10.06, Göhr 10.99/10.26, Patricia Girard 11.65/10.48)

Donkova’s step length at her top speed measured during relay races remained similar from 1982 to 1988 (2m22), and her top speed only had marginal gains. Improvement of high-step frequency, especially by decreasing the contact times during the run between hurdles, were her technical trend until 1988.

Can Harrison Capture the World Indoor Record?

Donkova’s indoor 60m hurdles best was 7.74, a WR in 1987.

If Harrison can duplicate her shape next winter, she should be able to run much faster than Donkova’s time, and Sanna Kallur’s current World Indoor Record of 7.68 held since 2008 will be in danger. Harrison will also probably erase Narozhilenko’s 7.63 unratified record due to her 1993 doping offense.

Harrison’s time at 60m was 7.65 (high-speed camera placed at 60m), but theoretically, she could run faster since she had 6 hurdles instead of 5. This winter, she set her PB at 7.77 after a 5th hurdle touchdown of 6.48. Her 1.29 run-in time added to her 6.33 would give her 7.62.

I now expect she’ll have a faster finish.

Author’s Acknowledgments

Special thanks to my friend Daniela who helped me translate Bulgarian material more than a decade ago during endless afternoons. Credits to statistician Aleksandar Vangelov who provided early performance data for Donkova. And I’m grateful to Pr Apostol Slavchev for helping me with documentation for my research.

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