by Stuart Weir
The women’s sprint hurdles do not disappoint
I make no secret of my love for the women’s sprint hurdles. I love the way it combines speed, technique, and drama to no end. In Silesia, 18 athletes were invited to run in two heats, with the top three in each plus the three fastest from the rest qualifying for the final. The field included the current Olympic champion, the current World champion, and the current and previous world record-holders. In the semi, Nadine Visser ran a meeting record of 12:28, but it lasted just over an hour. Masai Russell ran not just a meeting record but a Diamond League record. Unfortunately, Visser could only 12.60 in the final. The only disappointment for the large crowd was that none of the three Poles made the final, although Alicja Sielska did run a PR in the heat.
The result of the final was:
1 Masai Russell 12.19 DLR
2 Tonea Marshall 12.24
3 Tobi Amusen 12,25
4 Danielle Williams 12.32
That three of the top five ran PRs in the final is an indication of the quality of the race. Another notable achievement is that Ackera Nugent ran 12.43 and finished seventh.
The winner, Masai Russell, summed up her race: “It was amazing. My travel was so messed up; at first, I didn’t want to rush. I arrived two days ago, and there were numerous obstacles, but I remained positive. I am very confident going into Tokyo. I have to do this again in September. I will run in the Lausanne meeting and then go home and train for two weeks, and then we will have a training camp near Tokyo for two weeks”.
Tonea Marshall, finishing second, commented: “I wanted a PR because last year I set something like six of them and it did not work this year until today, but I did not expect to beat it by this much! You have to keep at it and be patient, trust yourself, trust your coach, trust your timing. I will do the rest of the Diamond League season. My greatest hope is to win the final and qualify for the World Championships. That is the only way I can get there”.
The times the ladies are running routinely – that 12.43 only gets you seventh place – are astonishing. I asked double world champion Danielle Williams what was going on. She told me:
“ I would agree that there are more fast hurdlers now as opposed to a couple of years before. But in my opinion, the 100m hurdles have always been more about speed than technique. Because the hurdles are so low, it’s always about how fast you can run. ‘Run’ is not quite the right word because you don’t usually run between hurdles, but whoever can move the fastest between hurdles wins. So the faster you are on the flat, the more you can escape not being as good a technical hurdler because it’s not about technical, but about how quickly you can get back to the track and run. There are many hurdlers these days who can run a fast 100 meters flat, and that’s why you’ve seen the times getting so much faster. A couple of years ago, 12.5 would win any given race, but now with 12.5 you’re finishing in the second half of the race”.
And remember that they are just warming up for the big one!
