A 400H Explosion

by Steve McGill

I am one of the many track people who laments the fact that there is a “down” year every fourth year – a year in which there is no outdoor World Championship nor Olympic Games. We’re in the midst of one of those years right now, and, typically, we’re seeing some sluggish performances from some of the usual top competitors. But it is also true that down years are often when unknown athletes make their first mark on the international scene, or struggling athletes finally emerge. In the case of 2018, an entire event is undergoing a resurgence -the men’s 400 meter hurdles, thanks mainly to two young gentlemen who have produced extraordinary times – collegian Rai Benjamin of the University of Southern California, and Abderrahman Samba of Qatar. Benjamin is only 21, and Samba is only 22, which means we might see these two young men take the event to heights never seen before.

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Prior to the emergence of Benjamin and Samba, the men’s 400 hurdles had been an event that was kind of off the radar to most non-ardent hurdle fans. For quite a while, there haven’t been any great rivalries like the one between Derrick Adkins and Samuel Matete back in the 90’s; there haven’t been any transcendent figures like the great Edwin Moses back in the 70’s and 80’s; there hasn’t been an eagerness to see if anyone can knock the king off the mountain, like when Andre Phillips, Danny Harris, and Harald Schmid were looking to knock Moses off his thrown in the late 80’s; and there hasn’t been a transcendent performance like Kevin Young’s 46.78 at the 1992 Olympic Games, which still stands as the world record twenty-six years later.

Sure, there have been many great performances from the likes of Felix Sanchez, Kerron Clement, Bershawn Jackson, Angelo Taylor; those athletes and several athletes had long careers in which they accomplished much. But in recent years the number of sub-48 performances has dwindled. Back in the day, it was assumed that, in order to make an Olympic or World Championship team, or to finish on the medal stand at a major international competition, you had to go sub-48, and maybe deep into the 47’s. That hasn’t necessarily been the case in the past six to eight years or so. Thirty years after retiring, Moses is still unequivocally the best hurdler the event has ever seen. For what other event in track and field can that be said? This lack of progression in the event is what has allowed it to grow somewhat stale and moldy.

But it’s looking like Benjamin and Samba are in the process of changing all of that. Benjamin, who just completed his junior year of college, shocked the world with a 47.02 at the NCAA Championships last month. His time equaled the personal best of Moses himself, making him the second-fastest 400m hurdler ever, behind only Young’s world record. But then, about two weeks later, at the Diamond League meet in Paris, Samba, who’d been running consistently in the 47’s throughout the year, set the world on fire with a 46.98 – only the second sub-47 race in history. My reaction to both races was to shout “OH MY GOD!” and to look at my wife, who doesn’t follow track at all, and ask, “Did you just see that?”

But for the purposes of this article, let me get out of fan mode and get into coach mode so that I can break down what I saw from these two athletes in their respective break-out races.

Both of these races were very fluid races. Both athletes exhibited very little strain, and both did exhibit an ease of motion that belied their effort. That’s why, in both cases, I felt such shock when the times came on the board. Neither race “looked” that fast. But yes, that’s a quality of all great 400 hurdle races, and all great 400 hurdlers – they minimize wasted effort and they don’t waste energy straining.

Both hurdlers are very good hurdlers. The best 400 hurdlers have both – great flat 400m speed and efficient hurdling technique. I think that part of the reason we’ve seen such inconsistency in the event over the past decade or so is because the event has been filled with some outstanding quarter milers whose hurdling technique is suspect. So, when their rhythm is on, they can bust out a good race. But when it’s not they can look very average. I’ve always felt that 400 hurdlers undervalue the importance of efficient technique, and I feel that Benjamin and Samba are showing us the value of hurdling efficiency. Both of them are outstanding quarter milers and outstanding hurdlers. I like Samba’s technique a little better than Benjamin’s because Samba’s lead leg stays bent at the knee, allowing him to cycle both legs over the hurdle. Benjamin’s lead leg knee does lock slightly, but he doesn’t kick out the foot, so his style is pretty efficient too. I feel like Samba’s arms are better are the curve; he keeps his elbows in whereas Benjamin’s elbows do open outward a little bit.

In terms of the ages-old argument about alternating lead legs, Benjamin and Samba are a study in contrasts, thereby keeping the debate going. Stunningly, although a right-leg lead (which means running more widely on the curve), Benjamin was able to 13-step the entire way in his 47.02 race. In the early part of the race, he was getting a good cut step into each hurdle like a 110m hurdler. (And yes, I feel that a good cut step is just as important in the 400 hurdles as it is in the 110 hurdles, and for the same reason – it allows you to accelerate through the hurdle). Over the last two hurdles, he “went to his arms” like quarter-milers are taught to do, and still looked very comfortable 13-stepping, even if the cut step wasn’t there anymore.

Samba, meanwhile, ran 13 strides between the hurdles through hurdle seven, then alternated lead legs, taking 14 strides between hurdles eight, nine, and ten. A right-leg lead for the first seven hurdles, he led with his left lead at the all-important eighth hurdle – the last hurdle on the curve. Then he switched back to a left-leg lead over hurdle nine, then back to a right-leg lead over hurdle ten. His technique with his left leg didn’t look any worse than his technique with the right leg. Also, switching to 14 strides late in the race did allow him to push through each of those last three hurdles in a manner that he might have not been able to execute had he tried to maintain 13 the whole way.  The fact that he was able to run sub-47 without 13-stepping the whole way, while Benjamin ran within a few hundredths of the same time with the 13-step the whole way means that what works best for the individual athlete is the plan that should be implemented.

Hopefully, Benjamin and Samba will lead the men’s 400 hurdles into a new golden era, filled with epic battles and groundbreaking achievements. They both have the talent to do so, as long as they both stay healthy and hungry.

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