50 m hurdles, women, indoor

What to remember

Only four hurdles, over 50 m: the event is so rarely held that many of the fastest times were clocked during longer races, over 55 m or 60 m hurdles. In East Berlin on February 20, 1988, East Germany's Cornelia Oschkenat ran this indoor sprint in 6.58 s, an average of 27.36 km/h (17.00 mph).

For women the hurdles stand 83.8 cm high. For men, the record quoted is that of Canada's Mark McKoy, set on March 5, 1986 in Kobe.

Oschkenat knew the short indoor hurdles well: world indoor 60 m hurdles champion in 1987 and three times European indoor champion over that distance. That same year, in Rome, she won world bronze in the 100 m hurdles in 12.46 s and silver in the 4 × 100 m relay. In 1988 she also competed at the Seoul Olympics.