Should the Women’s Hurdles be Raised?
by Savannah Cress
December is upon us – the final month of 2019. The month when my children’s already-questionable abilities to differentiate between “needs” and “wants” reach an all-time low. The month during which electric bills skyrocket to support a myriad of lights that help ease the void of sunlight that occurs by 5pm. The month that unapologetically transitions us into winter.
This December, in addition to debating elaborate contents of Christmas lists, I’ve been looking at a topic with even more longevity: women’s hurdles height. Should they be raised to 36”? Should they remain at 33”? Very soon after delving into the subject, I caught myself leaning toward the “36 inch side.” However, I wanted to explore multiple angles prior to allowing my mind to settle on one or the other.
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The current height for hurdles in girls and women’s shorter races goes from 30” in middle school to 33” in high school, where it remains all the way through the professional level. Longer races start at 30” for middle school and do not change at all, unless you are still competing in Masters races at 60 years old, at which point it is apparently best practice to bring the height down to 27”. We’ll focus on the “pre-Masters era” for the moment. [1] [2]
By comparison, the men’s short-race height starts at 33” in middle school, jumps up to 39” for high school, then tops out at 42” beyond the high school level. For men’s longer-distance races, the hurdles are set at 30” for middle school then 36” after that point. [1] [2]
It seems ironic that there is a height difference in the middle school range at all. Until around age 11, there tends to not be much difference in strength between boys and girls of comparable size. After that point, differences become more apparent; however, girls start, and complete, their adolescent-related growth spurt approximately two years before boys. Because of this staggered developmental period, there is a time–generally between 12 and 14 years old–where, on average, girls are not only taller than boys of the same age, but also more muscular. That being said, I can see how it makes sense developmentally for the height jump in women’s hurdles to occur between middle school and high school, as the average girl has generally reached her full height by the end of middle school. Along those same lines, it also makes sense for men’s hurdle height to change between high school and college, as boys generally tend to have more vertical growth between 9th and 12th grade than girls. Ironically, the height jump for boys hurdles is most pronounced between middle and high school, before many boys have even made a dent in their major height growth period. [3]
Perhaps the most prevalent argument for raising the women’s hurdles height is the thought that an athlete can have very little technical hurdling skill, yet still come out on top in a race. With the hurdles at 33”, technical flaws are often not enough to slow down brute speed, blurring the lines between a 100 meter sprint race and a 100h race. On the contrary, with 42” hurdles, the men’s races require a solid technical element to make it all flow. I don’t care how fast you are, there’s no way you are going to gracefully navigate ten 42” hurdles relying on speed alone. [13]
If we are looking at the raw height of the women’s sprint hurdles directly compared to the men’s, there is an indisputable gap. In the United States, the average height of a man is 5’ 9” (69”), and the average height of a woman is 5’ 4” (64”). So, in the 110h race, where the hurdle height is 42”, and the average hurdler is 69”, the hurdle is 60% the height of the athlete. For the 100h race, the hurdle height is 33” and the average hurdler stands at 64”, making the hurdle roughly 52% the height of the athlete. In order to equalize the ratio of hurdler to hurdle between the men’s and women’s sprint races, the obstacle’s height in the women’s 100m race would need to be raised to 39”. [4]
It is worth noting that you really can’t look at it while only taking into consideration the athlete’s height. While I’m all for equality, I am not of the school of thought that equality necessarily means “exactly the same.” In sports, there are innate, physical variances between male and female bodies that come into play. Largely due to having testosterone levels that are an average of 7 to 8 times higher than that of females, in general, males have longer limbs (in relation to their height), more oxygen-carrying red blood cells, larger lungs and heart, less fat, denser bones which are able to support more muscle, and narrower hips, which both decrease chance of injury and are structured for more efficient running form. Consequently, there is an average of an 11% gap between the performance of elite male and female competitors in running events, despite the women’s hurdles height being 8% lower in proportion to the average athlete than the men’s hurdles height. The current world record time in the women’s 400h, 52.16 seconds by Dalilah Muhammad, does not even meet the 2020 Olympic Qualifying Standard for the men’s 400h race, which is 48.9 seconds. These differences in physique support the thought that merely equalizing the hurdle to hurdler height ratio would not necessarily make the men’s and women’s sprint hurdle races comparable. I believe it proves more valuable to strive for equality in the level of technical proficiency required for each race than in the actual hurdle height number or ratio. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
In addition to hurdling technique being a reasonable requirement of elite hurdler success, it can also be argued that as an athlete progresses in level, it seems only natural for the height of the hurdles to gradually increase with the level of competition, as is seen with the 110h race. With the final height progression in the women’s sprint race occurring between middle and high school, 9th grade girls are running the same race as 26 year old professional athletes. While many 9th grade girls will have attained their adult height, their speed, strength and technical mastery should grow by leaps and bounds from age 14 to professional-level, if given the opportunity. It can be argued that adjusting the hurdle height to grow with the abilities of the hurdler is a way of ensuring technical progression. [11] [13]
From the other angle, in an interview by RunningReview.com’s James Sullivan, Irish hurdler Sarah Lavin stated “I think by raising them an extra 3 inches, it is going to turn the event into another sport for tall people to dominate.” [12] The disadvantage for shorter athletes is a common argument for keeping the hurdles at 33”. It is an understandable one, as the height increase would certainly be an adjustment. The timing of such a change would need to be carefully planned. If a change were decided on in the present time, then maybe slate it to take effect in post-high school level competitions beginning in 2024. That would allow time for a transition, giving professional-level athletes time to hone their technique and adjust to the additional 3” while also not messing up current high school and collegiate competitors by changing the structure and potentially throwing them off in the middle of their current level.
Another line of thought toward keeping the hurdles at the current height is: Do we want to closely mimic the men’s race with the women’s? Is that really the goal? Dr. Victoria Jackson, a professor specializing in sports history and equality within it, made a valid point when she commented, “We shouldn’t automatically assume women conforming to men’s model is the only path to equality.” [15] Though it’s currently not as purely a technical hurdle race as the men’s, the women’s race is pretty exciting to watch. The average track fan can more easily relate to, and get wrapped up in, the women’s race, as all of the technical nuances associated with the act of hurdling often go unnoticed to those less familiar with the specific event. [15]
Another thing to think about is the history of women’s hurdles, and the different path it has taken when compared to men’s hurdles. There is a good 100 years between the formal recording of men’s hurdles races and the addition of women’s. Do we want to shift the path of the race at this time? Lauren Fleshman states in a November 2015 blog post: “When the women’s 3k was removed from track, the best 3k women in history became relics of an non-relatable time. It’s the sad truth. Considering the relatively short history of women’s sports, the events we’ve been running (regardless of how they originated) have cross generational currency that connects us to women who came before us, builds tradition, and makes it easier for us to imagine what’s to come (which can help us maintain a long term perspective). As a woman, I value those things way more than mimicking the men.” [15] Fleshman is referring to the evolution of women’s distance races in track and cross country, but it’s a thought to consider, and one that can be applied to the context of women’s sports as a broader category. Would raising the height of women’s hurdles create a disconnect from hurdle pioneers like Yordanka Donkova and Gail Devers? Would even more current renowned athletes like Keni Harrison and Nia Ali be relegated to a different, less-relatable category within the history of the sport? [15] [16]
Raising the hurdles height for women’s races has been discussed for years. It is not hard to see what a controversial topic it has become and why the hesitation to move forward with change exists. To the open mind, there are valid and understandable points made from both perspectives. Personally, I still feel boosting the technical requirement with a well-planned, subtle raise in height between high school and collegiate levels makes sense. With all the advances in athletics the past half a century, from training techniques, sports medical knowledge, equipment and the resulting lowered performance times, it seems to me that it could be beneficial to make adjustments to ensure women’s hurdling technique does not get stuck in the prior century and stifle untapped potential. I also admittedly feel relief knowing I am not one of the people in the position responsible for ultimately making that call one way or the other. Sadly, I cannot say the same of my position in the debate of Santa fulfilling requests for Poloroid-style cameras which require the ongoing, additional cost of “instant film.” Some changes should really not be revisited…. [11] [13]
Resources:
[1]https://trackstarusa.com/hurdle-heights/
[2] http://docshare02.docshare.tips/files/24081/240817448.pdf
[3] https://www.britannica.com/science/human-development/Increase-in-body-size
[4] http://worldpopulationreview.com/states/average-height-by-state/
[5] https://www.bbc.com/sport/golf/29242699
[7] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testosterone
[8] https://fairplayforwomen.com/biological-sex-differences/
[9] https://www.flotrack.org/articles/6394026-2020-olympic-qualifying-standards-released
[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_400_metres_hurdles_world_record_progression
[11] https://hurdlesfirstbeta.com/free-articles/issues/raise-em/
[12] http://therunningreview.com/athlete-qa-sarah-lavin/
[13] https://hurdlesfirstbeta.com/free-articles/issues/thoughts-womens-100m-hurdles/
[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_100_metres_hurdles_world_record_progression
[15] http://asklaurenfleshman.com/2015/11/discussing-equality-in-ncaa-cross-country/
