110M Hurdles Disqualifiction

Judy Vernon

Judy Vernon examines the rules governing the recent controversial disqualification of some of Britain's most experienced Internationals in major domestic competitions. With a seemingly marked difference of opinion between officials on the one hand and coaches and athletes on the other, Vernon questions whether knocking over hurdles can really benefit the proficient hurdler.

Mensah Elliott [left] in action at UKHC meet in Bath 
photo Roger Miller

RULE 116
We have recently seen the disqualification of British International Sprint hurdler Mensah Elliott m from both the Inter-Counties Championships, held at Bedford on May 26th, and the South of England Championships, held at Watford on June 2nd, for deliberately knocking down hurdles with his lead leg in these competitions. On both occasions he crossed the finishing line in first place. Neil Owen, who finished second and Dwayne Stoddart, who finished fifth, were also disqualified in the South of England Championships for the same reason.

It was interesting to notice that the athletes who were elevated to the 3 medal positions in the South of England Championships declined to accept their medals in a protest against the referee’s decision.

This article attempts to analyse why these disqualifications took place in an interview with one of the leading track referees in the country, Mr. David Littlewood. The analysis begins with a look at Rule 116.
Rule 116 from the UK Athletics Rules for Competition relates specifically to Hurdle Races. The rule is divided into 13 parts and it is part 8, part 11 and part 12 that are of particular interest.

Part 8
The hurdle shall be of such design that a force of at least 3.6kg applied to the centre of the top of the cross-bar is required to overturn it. Where an adjustable hurdle is used the counter-weights must be adjustable to the effect that in every position relating to the height of the hurdle the force required to overturn the hurdle when adjusted shall be at least 3.6kg and not more than 4kg.

Part 11
Where hurdles comply with (8), as appropriate, knocking down any number of hurdles shall not disqualify, nor shall it disentitle a competitor from claiming a record.

Part 12
Competitors who trail a foot or leg below the plane of the top of the bar of the hurdle at the instant of clearance, or negotiate any hurdle not in their lane, or in the opinion of the Referee deliberately knock down any hurdle by hand or foot shall be disqualified.

In competitions of sufficiently high standard the assumption is that the hurdles meet the specifications laid out in part 8 of Rule 116. Therefore according to part 11 of Rule 116, the number of hurdles knocked down shall not disqualify a hurdler. Attention is now directed toward part 12 of Rule 116, and in particular the latter part of the rule, namely that if the competitor deliberately knocks down any hurdle by hand or foot he shall be disqualified.

David Littlewood informed me that the umpires are responsible for observing the races and the number of umpires can vary from competition to competition, depending on the number available to deploy to the hurdles race. This means that the umpires can sometimes be called upon to observe more than one lane of hurdles. Their main task is to look for infringements of a lateral nature, namely obstruction of another competitor with their arms or running out of their lane. However the umpires are also trained to look for competitors who do not attempt to clear the hurdle cleanly but are trying to gain an advantage over their fellow competitors by knocking the hurdle down with the lead foot or rear foot. The umpires will stand both at the beginning of the race and at the end and there will also be umpires on the side of the track. David did point out that judging whether hurdlers are deliberately knocking down hurdles is the most difficult task of all the umpires’ duties, and that the opinion of the umpires is purely subjective.

It must be extremely difficult for the umpires to identify clearly whether hurdles are being knocked down intentionally or unintentionally in these races. With 8 athletes running over each of ten barriers in .32 of a second as measured in biomechanical studies from take off to landing and only actually taking 5/100 of a second to clear each barrier surely it must be almost impossible to detect an intentional knocking down of the hurdle, especially if the umpire has to observe more than one lane.

In the male sprint hurdle race, the hurdles are 106.7cm in height. This is quite a height, and yes in the above mentioned races, the athletes concerned did knock down hurdles. However, this has a negative effect on the performance of the athletes, slowing them down considerably. Therefore it is to the hurdlers’ advantage to clear the hurdle cleanly and efficiently.

Technical errors do occur at such a high level of performance due to the speed of the competitors and the height of the hurdle and these technical errors can cause hurdles to be hit with both the lead leg and the trail leg and knocked down. The competitors involved in the recent disqualifications are all of a high competitive standard and are certainly aware that hitting hurdles is a huge disadvantage to their time and they want to run a clean race. Surely, unless the umpires see blatant attempts to deliberately knock over hurdles then the races should be allowed to be run and places awarded without disqualification.

Judy Vernon
Level Four Hurdles Coach

It should be noted that the tremendous Gold medal performance winning in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics by Allen Johnson 12.92, only left one hurdle standing!! [ed]

June 2002