# Men's 110 metres hurdles world record progression

The following table shows the world record progression in the Men's 110 metres hurdles.
The first world record in the 110 metre hurdles for men (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations, in 1912. The IAAF ratified Forrest Smithson's 15.0 mark set at the 1908 London Olympic Games as the inaugural record.
To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 39 world records in the event.

## Records 1912–1976

| Time | Wind | Auto | Athlete | Nationality | Location of race | Date |
| 15.0 | | | Forrest Smithson | United States | London | 25 July 1908 |
| 15.0 | | | Harold Barron | United States | Antwerp | 17 August 1920 |
| 15.0 | | | Earl Thomson | Canada | Antwerp | 17 August 1920 |
| 14.8 | | | Earl Thomson | Canada | Antwerp | 18 August 1920 |
| 14.8 | | | Sten Pettersson | Sweden | Stockholm | 18 September 1927 |
| 14.6 | | | George Weightman-Smith | South Africa | Amsterdam | 31 July 1928 |
| 14.4 | | | Eric Wennström | Sweden | Stockholm | 25 August 1929 |
| 14.4 | | | Bengt Sjöstedt | Finland | Helsinki | 5 September 1931 |
| 14.4 | | | Percy Beard | United States | Cambridge | 23 June 1932 |
| 14.4 | −0.2 | 14.53 | Jack Keller | United States | Palo Alto | 17 July 1932 |
| 14.4 | | | George Saling | United States | Los Angeles | 2 August 1932 |
| 14.4 | | | John Morriss | United States | Budapest | 12 August 1933 |
| 14.4 | | | John Morriss | United States | Turin | 8 September 1933 |
| 14.3 | | | Percy Beard | United States | Stockholm | 26 July 1934 |
| 14.2 | | | Percy Beard | United States | Oslo | 6 August 1934 |
| 14.2 | | | Alvin Moreau | United States | Oslo | 2 August 1935 |
| 14.1w | 2.4 | | Forrest Towns | United States | Chicago | 19 June 1936 |
| 14.1 | 1.3 | | Forrest Towns | United States | Berlin | 6 August 1936 |
| 13.7 | 0.0 | | Forrest Towns | United States | Oslo | 27 August 1936 |
| 13.7 | 0.0 | | Fred Wolcott | United States | Philadelphia | 29 June 1941 |
| 13.6 | 0.9 | | Richard Attlesey | United States | College Park | 24 June 1950 |
| 13.5 | | | Richard Attlesey | United States | Helsinki | 10 July 1950 |
| 13.4 | 0.0 | | Jack Davis | United States | Bakersfield | 22 June 1956 |
| 13.2 | 1.9 | 13.56 | Martin Lauer | West Germany | Zurich | 7 July 1959 |
| 13.2 | 0.0 | | Lee Calhoun | United States | Bern | 21 August 1960 |
| 13.2 | 1.8 | 13.43 | Earl McCullouch | United States | Minneapolis | 16 July 1967 |
| 13.2 | −0.9 | | Willie Davenport | United States | Zurich | 4 July 1969 |
| 13.2 | 0.0 | 13.24 | Rod Milburn | United States | Munich | 7 September 1972 |
| 13.2 | 1.1 | 13.41 | Rod Milburn | United States | Zurich | 6 July 1973 |
| 13.2 | 1.5 | | Rod Milburn | United States | Siena | 22 July 1973 |
| 13.1 | 1.2 | | Guy Drut | France | Saint Maur | 23 July 1975 |
| 13.0 | 1.8 | | Guy Drut | France | West Berlin | 22 August 1975 |

## Records 1977–present

From 1975, the IAAF accepted separate automatically electronically timed records for events up to 400 metres. Starting January 1, 1977, the IAAF required fully automatic timing to the hundredth of a second for these events.
Rod Milburn's 1972 Olympic gold medal victory time of 13.24 was the fastest recorded result to that time.
| Time | Wind | Athlete | Nationality | Location of race | Date |
| 13.24 | 0.0 | Rod Milburn | United States | Munich | 7 September 1972 |
| 13.21 | 0.6 | Alejandro Casañas | Cuba | Sofia | 21 August 1977 |
| 13.16 | 1.7 | Renaldo Nehemiah | United States | San Jose | 14 April 1979 |
| 13.00 | 0.9 | Renaldo Nehemiah | United States | Westwood | 6 May 1979 |
| 12.93 | −0.2 | Renaldo Nehemiah | United States | Zürich | 19 August 1981 |
| 12.92 | −0.1 | Roger Kingdom | United States | Zürich | 16 August 1989 |
| 12.91 | 0.5 | Colin Jackson | United Kingdom | Stuttgart | 20 August 1993 |
| 12.91 | 0.3 | Liu Xiang | China | Athens | 27 August 2004 |
| 12.88 | 1.1 | Liu Xiang | China | Lausanne | 11 July 2006 |
| 12.87 | 0.9 | Dayron Robles | Cuba | Ostrava | 12 June 2008 |
| 12.80 | 0.3 | Aries Merritt | United States | Brussels | 7 September 2012 |