Paris 2024: Hurdling synchronicity and tight margins

And so the morning after the night before. And what a night it was as the Irish descended on the home of French tennis to acclaim Kellie Harrington after she made it back-to-back gold medals in the boxing ring.

The day dawned with a slight chill in the air, a rarity during this Olympic season. Still, conditions that many athletes would favour for the morning's track and field action at the Stade de France. It's good to get to the venue early, no queues at security, and there's even a few more words than normal from those doing the checking.

Sarah Lavin was the first of the Irish in action in the heats of the 100m hurdles. And it was all about the 'big Q' for the Co Limerick native. And she did that, qualify I mean, when coming second in her heat.

Hurdling is all about getting the technique right and that technique is being able to leap over the hurdles while maintaining speed, though the emphasis isn't on sprinting as much as you would think.

What the hurdler also has to figure out is their stride pattern; how many strides they need to take before reaching the next hurdle?

So, I researched this and apparently most competitors take seven to eight strides to the first hurdle in the 110m and then it's three strides to the remaining hurdles, though these figures also tend to apply across the other distances

As for the obstacles themselves, in the 110m event for men, the hurdle is 1.07m high, while it's 0.838m high for women in their 100m event. Both sexes participate over 400m.

The take-off point at each hurdle is approximately 2 metres. Your leading leg, as it passes over the barrier should straighten, and so your foot should land, so we are told, 1.2m beyond the hurdle. Your trailing leg is the spring to push your body towards