An In-Depth Look at the Women’s 400 Hurdles
by Steve McGill
Let me go ahead and say that 2021 is proving to be perhaps the beginning of a golden era in the 400 hurdles for both men and women. When looking at the performances that we saw at the end of June at the United States Olympic trials and then in Diamond League meets in June and July up until now, it is easy to say that we are witnessing unprecedented levels of achievement. In the men’s 400 hurdles, the obvious standouts are Norway’s Karsten Warholm, the USA‘s Rai Benjamin, and, to a slightly lesser degree, Alison dos Santos of Brazil; on the women’s side, the obvious standouts are Sydney McLaughlin and Dalillah Muhammad of the United States, Femke Bol of the Netherlands, and, to a slightly lesser degree, Shamier Little.
In this article, let’s focus on the women’s side of things, and begin by analyzing the world record race in Oregon — McLaughlin’s astounding 51.90 at the US trials, where she narrowly but convincingly defeated Muhammad, who finished in 52.42. In 2019, at the World Championships in Doha, it was Muhammad who broke the world record, with McLaughlin coming in second. That race was equally thrilling, as Muhammad edged McLaughlin, 52.16-52.23. With 2020 being pretty much a lost year due to the covid pandemic, we didn’t see these two go at it again until the Trials here a few weeks ago. For Muhammad, it was only her third meet of the year, as she had been dealing with hamstring issues and also had tested positive for the virus, so she missed a lot of training time. That she was able to run as fast as she did, and that she looked so sharp doing it, was more than just a bit impressive.
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As for McLaughlin, she had been competing in the 100 meter hurdles a lot prior to the Trials, working on her speed and her efficiency in both legs, as she would choose a different lead leg for each race. That, to me, was a stroke of genius on her part and on the part of her coach, as it helped her so much in building an equal trust in both lead legs. Not to mention that she got her personal best down to 12.65, fueling belief among many, including myself, that if she were to ever shift focus to the 100 meter hurdles, it wouldn’t be long before she’d become a threat to be the best in the world in that event too. And the ability to alternate so efficiently paid off in a big way, making me feel like she had planned all along to change her stride pattern for the 2021 season. If you look back to the 2019 World Championship final, you will see that Sydney took 22 steps to the first hurdle, 15 through hurdle seven, and then 16 over the last three. That falls in line with the norm for elite females, as Muhammad also took 22 to the first hurdle, and then took 15 through hurdle eight before taking 16 over the last two. So, in that race, Dalilah was able to 15-step through eight, whereas Sydney 15-stepped through seven. Fast forward to this year’s Olympic Trials, and Dalilah maintained the same stride pattern — 22, then 15 through eight, then 16 for the last two.
Sydney, meanwhile, came with something new. I’m talking about something new. I said I’m talking about something NEW! It blew my mind when watching the replays, and my mind was also blown by the fact that the television commentators didn’t even notice. Sydney’s stride pattern in her 51.90 race was 22 to hurdle one, 14 (yes, I said 14) through hurdle five, then 15 the rest of the way. Bruh, this girl is a monster. Correct me if I’m wrong, but, to my knowledge, no woman has ever 14-stepped in a race, and she 14-stepped for the entire first half of the race, in perfect rhythm. No reaching or stretching or overstriding. Smooth like butter. And she never had to drop down to 16; she maintained her 15 for the whole second half of the race. And, because of her 100 hurdle work, her technique was extremely efficient. I’m telling you bruh, we’re witnessing something special here, and it’s only just beginning. The girl is only 21 years old. She’s just now beginning to 14-step through the first half. Would it be surprising if she is 14-stepping the whole race by the time she’s 24 or 25? Would it be surprising if she takes the world record under 51.00 before she retires. No and no. Whether or not Dalilah can come back and get her in Tokyo remains to be seen, and I certainly don’t think it’s impossible, as we all know what Dalilah can do. But beyond Tokyo, barring illness or injury, Sydney is on her way to becoming a legend in the sport, the greatest of all times, an absolute phenomenon.
Meanwhile, we have another young phenom who has emerged in a big way this year in the Diamond League competitions — the aforementioned Femke Bol, who is also only 21 years old. In a series of meets over the past couple weeks, Bol and Shamier Little, who narrowly missed making the USA team after clipping the 8th hurdle at the Trials and falling behind eventual third-place finisher Ana Cockrell, have been battling it out in some electrifying races, all of which have been won by Bol, even if just by a smidgen in most cases. Bol has been running consistently under 53.00, and her fastest race came at the Stockholm Diamond League race, where she ran 52.37, good for a national record and making her fourth-fastest female 400 hurdler ever. Geez louise. Little, by the way, ran 52.39 in that race, good for a personal best and fifth-fastest hurdler ever.
In the footage I saw, I couldn’t tell how many steps Bol was taking to the first hurdle because the camera angle kept changing, but I’d be surprised if she isn’t taking 22 like Sydney and Dalilah. But for the rest of the race, Bol took 15 strides between the hurdles all the way around the track. That’s not astounding on a Sydney level, but it’s still astounding. The reason is, her 15 at the end of the race is still fluid and well-timed with a good take-off distance and good momentum going through the hurdle. She doesn’t switch to 16 late like Dalilah does, but it’s evident that she doesn’t need to. The question is, moving forward, will she need to match Sydney’s ability to take 14 strides between the hurdles early in the race? It looks like Bol could do so, as she is shortening her strides over hurdles two and three to fit in the 15 steps. What I don’t know is whether she had enough trust in the weaker leg to even try it. That remains to be seen. What I do know that with Sydney and Bol both being 21, those two will continue to set new standards in the event for the next decade or so, hopefully, as they are both still in the early stages of their development, relatively speaking. And then there’s Little, who is still in her prime. And then there’s Cockrell, who is so good at both hurdle events that she won both at NCAA’s. If she chooses to focus exclusively on the long hurdles as a professional, who’s to say that she won’t be in the mix going forward as well?
All told, it’s a great era for the women’s 400 meter hurdles. A golden age. I’m so excited to see what will happen in Tokyo. Even though there will be no fans in the stands, the races themselves should still be absolutely thrilling with competitors like the ones discussed above.
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