400m Hurdles

[jacknyc]

Louis Van Zyl of South Africa, just broke the national record in the 400m hurdles with a blazing time of 47.66!
http://www.athleticsafrica.com/www2/news/2011/02/26/south_african_lj_van_zyl_breaks_11_year_old_national_400m_hurdles_record_pretoria/685.html

Just to give you some idea about the time....in 2010, it would have been 5th fastest time in the world, and 3rd fastest performer.
I thought his best days were behind him, but glad to see they are right now.
Let's hope this is a great year for him.

 

[jacknyc]

Just checking out the 2011 European Top 10 in the 400m Hurdles.
It's amazing how the British dominate the list - 6 out of the top 10, and all very young.
Also, all of them are white, except Woodward (mostly white).
Incredible too for such a small island; and equally incredible that there are no white US hurdlers who could make this list time-wise.
Obviously, white talent in the US is pushed away from the sprints/hurdles/jumps, as is well documented here.
But happy to see this event is so strongly represented in the UK.

1/48.24David GreeneGBR
2/49.06NURNathan WoodwardGBR
3/49.06NURJack GreenGBR
4/49.50Georg FleischhauerGER
5/49.59Rhys WilliamsGBR
6/49.62Stanislav MelnykovUKR
7/49.68Aleksandr DerevyaginRUS
8/49.76Niall FlanneryGBR
9/49.78Jorge PaulaPOR
10/49.78Thomas PhillipsGBREdited by: jacknyc

 

[mastermulti]

Just checking out the 2011 European Top 10 in the 400m Hurdles.
It's amazing how the British dominate the list - 6 out of the top 10, and all very young.
Also, all of them are white, except Woodward (mostly white).
Incredible too for such a small island; and equally incredible that there are no white US hurdlers who could make this list time-wise.
Obviously, white talent in the US is pushed away from the sprints/hurdles/jumps, as is well documented here.
But happy to see this event is so strongly represented in the UK.

1/48.24David GreeneGBR
2/49.06NURNathan WoodwardGBR
3/49.06NURJack GreenGBR
4/49.50Georg FleischhauerGER
5/49.59Rhys WilliamsGBR
6/49.62Stanislav MelnykovUKR
7/49.68Aleksandr DerevyaginRUS
8/49.76Niall FlanneryGBR
9/49.78Jorge PaulaPOR
10/49.78Thomas PhillipsGBR

yep, lots of good Brits. They have a history of really good 400 runners in the last 2 decades so these guys seem to have incorporated the hurdles into the equation.
There are of course 60 million of them on that island LOL