BORN NOT MADE

Gisborne Times, Volume LXIV, Issue 11013, 28 January 1926, Page 5

BORN NOT MADE

SCHOLZ ON SPRINTERS, PRAISE FOR TWO DOMINION - - RUNNERS.. To a Times reporter last night Jackson Scholz, tho famous American sprint champion,- made- the. rather unusual statement that a sprinter deserves little credit for" winning races. He contends that a sprinter is born, " not, made, and that brains are quite an unnecessary p-art of his make-up. Sprinting, he says, is purely mechanical, a mere question of practice, practice, and practice again. Starting necessarily counts for a great deal, and, therefore, continual training is necessary to ensure that the mind functions instantaneously with' the sound of the starting pistol. In a sprint tactics are of no consequence—it is merely a question- of running yqur very hardest until; -the tape is reached. There are no secret rules of the sport. Every schoolboy probably knows all there is about it, but unless he is horn with the ability to sprint, and concentrates on practice, he will never be a champion. Speaking further, Mr Scholz said that he. was keenly interested in the more youthful runners. Probably lieeouldii’t tell them anything they didn’t know already, but these same things, if propounded by him and backed up by the concrete example of his own success, would be more likely to carry weight and influence them along the paths of correct sprinting. * He had been greatly impressed, by the material encountered so far on his tour, and mentioned two young sprinters whom he wished he could hafve to train with him- for a few months. These two were Lance Williams, of Auckland, and Lead-better, of Wellington. Williams was quite a youth, but, “J.S.” went on to say, he wins very fast over the first fifteen yards and he (Scholz) himself could not head him over that distance. Leadbetter bore a great resemblance to Paddock, in build, expression, style of running, and in all his. personal characteristics.

Questioned as to his own experiences, Mr Scholz said that he received all his earlier coaching in his college days, when his promise as' a sprinter was apparently recognised, for he was forbidden to take part in any sport other than sprinting. “Naturally, I didn’t like it then,’’ said the champion, “but I’n?! not sorry now.’’ He remarked further that lie had adopted writing as a profession, and until recently had been on the staff of the United Press Association. Now, however, he was a “free lance’’ writer pi. fiction stories fIM had established a good connect:?!* with ft number of American magazines. In the course of his athletic tours he was always on the look-out for good “copy”, and the possibility of obtaining this was a big factor in inducing him to. undertake these same tours. Since the last Olympic games he had been practically round the world, and had even spent six weeks in Japan.

Air Scholz remarked that his victory over Paddock in the last American Olympic trials had come as a great surprise to everyone, including himself, even though he had spent eight months training beforehand. His world’s record time for the 100 yards, 9J seconds, had not yet been officially passed' as a record, but he was still living in hopes. It was done on a clay track and was the fastest track he was ever on. Moreover, while on his present tour, liis ambition was to break the world’s record time for the 220yds. To do this, lie will have to improve on the marvellous time of 20 4~ssees., hut he believed that he had a good chance of doing so on the straight grass track at Auckland, for not long ago, on a wet track in North Carolina, he flew over the distance in 20 9-10 sec. The visitor mentioned that he had met Arthur Porritt, of New Zealand, while attending the Olympic games, and was greatly taken with that line runner. He considered him one of the world’s best, and remarked that, if Porritt would only concentrate on sprinting and give up broad-jumping, lie might rise to any heights. Questioned as to any other promising runners, Air Scholz said that deHart Hubbart, a negro in the United States, was liable' at any moment to bring out some startling times for the sprint races, especially over 100yds. It was possible he would do 9 3-ssocs, or even better. In conclusion, the visitor remarked that the best advice he coukl giro- to “would-be” champions vus that they should concentrate on their one particular line of athletics and keep- on practising. -