ATHLETIC RECORDS

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 144, 14 December 1935, Page 28

ATHLETIC RECORDS

HOW THEY HAVE FALLEN

MOST MARKED IN 440 YARDS

Of the track records from 100 yards to a mile which have been broken during the past thirty years or so it is frequently said that the figures for the first-named distance show the smallest reduction. Research, however, indicates that such a statement is very misleading. The 100 yards record has actually, with one exception,-been reduced more than any other. Take the mile. In 1900 the record stood at 4min 15 2-ssec; today it is 4min 6 7-10 sec, a reduction of approximately 3.per cent. Next the half-mile. The figures in 1900 were Imins3 2-ssec, while the present-official record is lmin 49 4-ssec, a cut of something like 3.6 per cent. The quarter-mile record has been reduced from ,49 4-ssee thirty-five years ago to 46 2-ssec, an improvement of approximately 7 per cent. For the 220 yards, B. Wefers in 1900 held the record of 21 l-ssec; the present figures are 20 3-ssec, which indicates/a reduction of nearly 3 per cent. And now the all-important 100. At the end of last century the record was 9 4-ssec-since then it has been reduced '2-ssec an advance of 4 per cent.; greater, indeed, than any of the above, except the 440 yards. It seems remarkable that this should be so, since the 100 yards is an event where error is less permissible than in any other flat event. The reason for this cannot be stated with any certainty but occasionally a sprinter's physical and mental reactions are such that he secures an almost instantaneous start. It is this co-ordination of brain and limb which he may achieve but once in a life-time that instantly makes him a yard faster than he normally is and gives him record time. In longer events the rapidity" of reaction to the pistol is of less consequence. Speed from the'mark, for instance, does not much matter in the half and the mile. Certainly it will not be responsible for a record, so that co-ordination in this respect will not make very much difference. It must be remembered also that, while it is very true to say that it is easier to knock a yard off in a mile than it is in 100 yards, a yard improvement in the shorter event corresponds with nearly an 18-yard improvement in the mile. ' A REDUCTION OF 72 YARDS. An improvemen{ of four yards in tha TOO, which represents an approximate reduction of 2-ssec, would mean an advancement of 72 yards in the mile if the rate of reduction in both events since 1900 were to be the same. And an improvement of 72 yards has, Up to the present, proved beyond the capacity of any miler. While the percentage Improvement m track events has been comparatively small, it has been most marked in certain field contests, especially those employing apparatus.. In 1890, for instance, the record for the hammer throw, was 130 ft Binj today it is 189 ft 6iin. ( Bu't'ln the old days the hammer was the genuine article with a wooden Handle. To call the modern implement a hammer is a misnomer. It is1 an iron ball attached to a flexible metal shaft. The greater freedom permitted by such a shaft over the old unbending handle is obvious This change in apparatus in 1896 brought an immediate improvement in the distance thrown. Improved technique and «pecialisation,haye.done the rest. Yet is twenty-two years since vie present figures were made. In the pole vault the old-timer used a solid pole, and cleared from 11 to 12 feet. His modern prototype performs with a pole possessing considerable .resiliency, a factor that, combined with the .'jack-knife," has been largely responsible for the present-day efforts of 14 feet. The possibility of'advancement in such events/is therefore much . greater than in'track .running^-where improvement in technique can be so slight as to make little material difference. .■'■■■ .; ':'.■:'.■ V-V. •'■••:.