March 8, 2014

For today’s blog post, I’m giving my pick for the most thrilling hurdle race ever. While there have been dozens of races over the years that could be considered serious candidates, I’m going with the men’s 400m intermediate hurdle final at the 1987 World Championships in Rome. Edwin Moses finished first in 47.46, with Danny Harris second in 47.48, and Harald Schmid in third also in 47.48. Moses had a sizable lead for a good portion of the race, and was clearly ahead coming off the last hurdle. But both Harris and Schmid made a mad dash for the finish line. They both closed the gap considerably, but Moses held on for the victory. For three athletes to run sub-47.50 in the same race is something we hadn’t seen before and haven’t seen since. Moses’ dominance in that era pushed his competitors to the limits of their potential, and this race serves as an epitome of the heights this event reached during the Moses years.

Here’s YouTube footage of this timeless classic: