Some people wonder about the difference between the men’s and women’s hurdles, as the latter run a distance of 100 meters while the men run a longer distance of 10 meters.
The history of hurdles dates back to the 1830s, when the French set the standard distance for men at 110 metres in 1888.
The men’s 400m hurdles Olympic final promises to be an exciting showdown. 🔥🏃♂️
Mark your calendar for August 9.#Paris2024
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Olympic athletes run different hurdle distances based on height and stride differences between men and women.
The hurdles themselves vary in size for men and women in order to maintain speed during the race while keeping safety in mind.
Scientific explanation
Since biology plays a major role in most sports, and in this event in particular, it helps determine how athletes can maintain high running speeds.
Since men are generally larger than women in height and stride, the length of the race is extended to meet these characteristics.
The IAAF said the men’s 110m hurdles has been standardised to match average height and stride. The women’s race is shorter to accommodate the average height and stride of female competitors.
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Nigerian Athlete, Tobi Amusan has qualified for the Semi Finals of the Women’s 100m Hurdles at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
She won her heat with a time of 12.49 seconds.
This is her third consecutive Semi Finals at the Olympics. pic.twitter.com/6Xzt9IyQ04— Gemedia (@Gemedia_) August 8, 2024
The women’s hurdles used to be 80 metres long but this changed in 1969, and the distance was extended to 100 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, the same distance it remains today. The number of hurdles was also increased from 8 to 10.
Size of barriers
It’s not just the length of the track that differs between men and women, but the obstacles themselves are different, with the women’s race hurdle being 83.3 centimetres long, while the men’s hurdle is 1.067 metres high.
According to scientists who study the biomechanics of high-performance male and female hurdlers, this explains not only the ability to gather and maintain speed during a race when crossing a hurdle, but also the lack of speed restriction during the recovery phase after crossing it and preparing for the next stage.
