Biomechanics of World-Class Men and Women Hurdlers

Abstract

The sprint hurdle events require athletes to cross ten hurdles between the start and finish line. The height of the hurdles, and the distances between them, differ for men and women, possibly resulting in technical differences. The aim of this study was to provide a kinematic comparison of in-competition hurdle technique for world-class men and women hurdlers. Video data were collected for the 16 finalists in the 100 m and 110 m hurdles events at the 2017 IAAF World Championships using four high-speed cameras (150 Hz), focusing on the sixth hurdle for the men and fifth for the women. Center of mass (CM) position, joint angles, step lengths and clearance times were compared between sexes at key events before, during and after hurdle clearance. The hurdle height was ~7% higher for men when calculated as a proportion of stature (p < 0.001). This discrepancy in relative hurdle height provided women with a kinematic and mechanical advantage over men as they took off farther from the hurdle (relative to hurdle height) (p < 0.001), leading to a lower and more efficient flight parabola. Women were also able to maintain longer relative step lengths after hurdle clearance and showed minimal vertical oscillation of the CM in the stance phases before and after the hurdle compared with men. The lower relative hurdle heights in the women's event provide a less demanding task, and thus these findings present preliminary evidence to those coaches who advocate revising the women's hurdle heights in competition.

Do Different Hurdle Heights Alter Important Spatiotemporal Variables in Hurdle Clearance?

“…Thus, some factors may lengthen the takeoff distance for each of the low and high hurdles. As such, factors other than hurdle height (e.g., intervals, sprints, and body size differences between men and women) may have contributed to the discrepancies in the results of previous studies (Salo et al, 1997 ; González-Frutos et al, 2019 ; Hanley et al, 2021 ) that examined differences in takeoff distance between men and women. The lack of a difference in takeoff distance between the High and Low conditions in our study may have been due to the experimental setting, which was not limited by the interval.…”

“…In the High group, the hurdler landed at a higher CM height to quickly mitigate the larger downward velocity in landings with more extended lead leg, thus requiring a larger CM downward distance. In fact, male hurdlers have a greater lead leg knee angle at landing from higher hurdles than female hurdlers (Hanley et al, 2021 ). Despite this, there was no significant difference in D-landing between the High and Low groups.…”

“…Discrepancies in the results of previous studies that examined spatiotemporal variables in hurdle events (McDonald and Dapena, 1991a ; Salo et al, 1997 ; Čoh and Iskra, 2012 ; González-Frutos et al, 2019 ; Hanley et al, 2021 ) may have been influenced by differences in body size, sprint ability, interval distance, and hurdle height. However, the main factors that cause differences in important spatiotemporal variables in hurdle clearance have yet to be elucidated.…”

“…The hurdle events in track and field [100 m hurdles (mH), 110 mH, 400 mH, and 60 mH] are events in which runners compete for time by clearing hurdles of specified heights placed at equal intervals. Hurdle clearance is one of the most representative techniques of hurdle events, and the kinematic and spatiotemporal characteristics of hurdle clearance in high-performance hurdlers have been clarified (Mann and Herman, 1985 ; McDonald and Dapena, 1991a ; McLean, 1994 ; Salo et al, 1997 ; McDonald, 2002 ; Čoh, 2003 ; Iskra and Coh, 2006 , 2011 ; Čoh and Iskra, 2012 ; Coh et al, 2019 ; Čoh et al, 2020 ; González-Frutos et al, 2019 ; Hanley et al, 2021 ).…”

“…McDonald and Dapena ( 1991a ) showed that men have a larger takeoff angle, larger rate of deceleration on takeoff, and a peak height of the center of mass (CM) that appears closer to the back of the hurdle than women. A study on world championship finalists also reported that the distance from the takeoff position to the hurdle (takeoff distance) was longer for men than for women, but when normalized for hurdle height, it was longer for women than for men (Hanley et al, 2021 ).…”