A hurdling World Champion, Perdita Felicien, Canada.

Hurdling is running over obstacles. In track and field athletics there are sprint hurdle races and long hurdle races. The standard sprint hurdle race is 110 meters for men and 100 meters for women. The standard long hurdle race is 400 meters for both men and women. Each of these races is run over ten hurdles and they are all Olympic events. Canadian world champion hurdler Perdita Felicien. ... Canadian world champion hurdler Perdita Felicien. ... Perdita Felicien, born August 29, 1980 in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, is the world champion hurdler in track and field athletic competition. ... Athletics, also known as track and field or track and field athletics, is a collection of sport events. ... The Summer Olympic Games are an international multi-sport event held every four years, organised by the International Olympic Committee. ...

Other distances are sometimes run, particularly indoors. The sprint hurdle race indoors is usually 60 meters for both men and women, although races 55 meters or 50 meters long are sometimes run. A 60 meter indoor race is run over 5 hurdles. A shorter race may have only 4 hurdles. The long hurdle race is sometimes shortened to 300 meters or 200 meters.

There are two basic hurdle heights: high hurdles and intermediate hurdles. The sprint hurdle races (60 m, 100 m and 110 m) use high hurdles, which are 42 inches (1.07 m) high for men and 33 inches (.84 m) high for women. Long hurdle races (400 m) use intermediate hurdles, which are 36 inches (.914 m) high for men and 30 inches (.762 m) high for women. Slightly lower heights (generally 3 inches lower) are sometimes used in youth or high school events, especially for boys.

A 400 metre hurdle race in progress at the Helsinki Grand Prix, July 2005.

In sprint hurdle races for men, regardless of the length of the race, the first hurdle is 15 yards (13.72 m) from the starting line and the distance between hurdles is 10 yards (9.14 m). In sprint hurdle races for women, the first hurdle is 14.22 yards (13 m) from the starting line and the distance between hurdles is 9.3 yards (8.5 m). In long hurdle events, whether for men or women, the first hurdle is 49.21 yards (45 meters) from the starting line and the distance between hurdles is 38.28 yards (35 m). Any race which is shorter than the standard distance is simply run over fewer hurdles; hurdle placement is the same as in the standard race. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 1607 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Hurdling ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 1607 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Hurdling ...

A modern hurdle will fall over if a runner hits it. There is no penalty for hitting a hurdle (provided this is not judged deliberate), although it usually slows a hurdler down. However, pushing the hurdle with one's hands or running out of one's lane as a result of hitting the hurdle is cause for disqualification. While hitting hurdles is not generally considered desirable, there have been a few sprint hurdlers who have been successful despite knocking over a lot of hurdles.

Hurdling requires both great running speed and excellent technique. Good hurdlers "run through" hurdles rather than jumping over them. Hurdlers will generally go over the hurdles using the same lead leg each time, taking three strides between hurdles in the sprint events and 13, 15 or even 17 strides between hurdles in the long hurdle races (although 12 has been done competitively; see Edwin Moses and Kevin Young). In a long hurdle race, a runner may take 13 strides between hurdles early in the race but be forced to increase the number of strides as fatigue sets in. Some hurdlers may go to an even number of strides, which requires them to switch lead leg. At World Championship 1987 Edwin Corley Moses (born in Dayton, Ohio August 31, 1955) is an American track and field athlete who won gold medals in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Summer Olympics. ... Kevin Curtis Young (born September 16, 1966) is a former American athlete, winner of 400 m hurdles at the 1992 Summer Olympics. ...

The 400 meter intermediate hurdle race is one of the most demanding in athletics (it is sometimes called the "man-killer event"). It combines a very long sprint with the technical and physical demands of hurdling. It is often described as being an annoying event as the hurdles can get in the way of a good run.

Another demanding event in which runners must negotiate obstacles is the steeplechase, which is not considered a hurdle race. Steeplechase barriers are the same height as intermediate hurdles but steeplechase barriers are solid and will not fall over if hit. Runners often step on barriers as they go over them. Another difference is that the steeplechase is a distance race rather than a sprint. The steeplechase was initially a form of horse-racing, but the term is now applied to similar other events as well. ...

There are also shuttle hurdle relay races, although they are rarely run. In a shuttle hurdle relay, each of four hurdlers on a team runs the opposite direction from the preceding runner. The standard races correspond to the standard sprint hurdle races: 4 x 110 m for men and 4 x 100 m for women. During a relay race, members of a team take turns swimming or running (usually with a baton) parts of a circuit or performing a certain action. ...