How long are we going to pretend the women’s hurdles aren’t to short?

Salvitore Stitchmo wrote:

You aren't wrong. And of course people might get offended by this because they think it detracts from what SMcG is doing but it doesn't change the fact the height really is too low.

It's not really shocking that she is running the times she is given the conditions. I don't think we have ever seen an elite 400m talent (and she is elite, she can break 49 seconds and would have won the open 4 last night had she run it instead) running the hurdles. Respectfully, the womens 400mH has been a historically and comparatively low talent event with either older 100m hurdlers moving up or 400m runners not fast enough to be competitive on the flat moving over. Now we have with her and to a degree Bol, elite 400m talents running the hurdles and the low hurdle height mean the barriers are almost token - they simply aren't high enough to pose much of a technical challenge to their speed.

Will it change though? No. What it will change is the level of talent in the event and take it to the next level. 55.0 seconds as a baseline barrier for world class is going to become 54.0 seconds within the next 4-5 years - McLaughlin is the reason for this and one of the few athletes that has drastically altered the course of an event in the last 20 years.

dumbest idea wrote:

Salvitore Stitchmo wrote:

You aren't wrong. And of course people might get offended by this because they think it detracts from what SMcG is doing but it doesn't change the fact the height really is too low.

It's not really shocking that she is running the times she is given the conditions. I don't think we have ever seen an elite 400m talent (and she is elite, she can break 49 seconds and would have won the open 4 last night had she run it instead) running the hurdles. Respectfully, the womens 400mH has been a historically and comparatively low talent event with either older 100m hurdlers moving up or 400m runners not fast enough to be competitive on the flat moving over. Now we have with her and to a degree Bol, elite 400m talents running the hurdles and the low hurdle height mean the barriers are almost token - they simply aren't high enough to pose much of a technical challenge to their speed.

Will it change though? No. What it will change is the level of talent in the event and take it to the next level. 55.0 seconds as a baseline barrier for world class is going to become 54.0 seconds within the next 4-5 years - McLaughlin is the reason for this and one of the few athletes that has drastically altered the course of an event in the last 20 years.

Dalilah and Bol have both split 48 in recent years, which is world class 400 speed. They are still nowhere near Syd in the 400h right now.

The 400h isn't "low talent" but rather it's actually extremely hard. Allyson Felix couldn't have just moved up to the 400h and dominated. The 400h has the same technical demands as a pole vault, a high jump, a hammer throw, etc. If anything, it's harder because you have to run an EXACT step pattern for 400m with 10 hurdles, alternating lead legs at full speed. You need the form, the top end speed, and the endurance.

Just because Syd makes it look easy doesn't mean it is. Michael Jordan made a free throw line dunk look easy but clearly it's not.