110 metres hurdles 100 yards (91.44 m). The first standards were attempted in 1864 in Oxford and Cambridge: The length of the course was set to 120 yards (109.7 m) and over its course, runners were required to clear ten 3 foot 6 inch (1.07 m) high hurdles. The height and spacing of the hurdles have been related to Imperial units ever since. After the length of the course was rounded up to 110 metres in France in 1888, the standards were pretty much complete (except for Germany where 1 metre high hurdles were used until 1907). The massively constructed hurdles of the
110 metres hurdles early days were first replaced in 1895 with somewhat lighter T-shaped hurdles that runners were able to knock over. However, until 1935 runners were disqualified if they knocked down more than three hurdles, and records were only recognized if the runner had left all hurdles standing. In 1935 the T-shaped hurdles were replaced by L-shaped ones that easily fall forward if bumped into and therefore reduce the risk of injury. However those hurdles are weighted so it is disadvantageous to hit them. The current running style where the first hurdle is taken on the run with the upper body lowered