ATHLETICS.

Grey River Argus, 26 June 1922, Page 8

ATHLETICS.

As anticipated, Melbourne came out victorious at the Inter- ’Varsity Championships held at Adelaide on May 31, ■' lu ' tally of points being: Mel bourne 38, Sydney 6, Adelaide 5, Queensland J. 'lhe outstanding performers were L. V. Pellevv (Adelaide), W. E. McMillan (Melbourne;, R. L. Almond (Melbourne), and W. H. Hutton (Sydney). At the Adelaide University meeting a fortnight earlier, I’ellew won four events—hundred, furlong, quarter, and 120yds. hurdles. His two wins at the inter-’Varsity gathering—looyds. in 10 l-ssee. and furlong in 22 l-ssec. — stamp him as a. very line sprinter, the latter in particular being well above the average of Australasian championship performances. He is a brother of C. E. i'ellew, the well-known Australian Test cricketer, himself a line sprinter and hurdler. L. V. was over here with the Australian team of last PADDOCK THE SPRINT MARVEL. The sprinter Charles Paddock has returned to California from Hawaii, where he had done the hundred in 9 3-5 secs. Ho did more than that. While in the Islands he made an onslaught on various records, with what result the following table shows; —100yds. (gra:--. 9 3-ssees., 50yds. (grass) 5 J-5; (>(•, t> d-ijsecs; 50yds., ssccs; 120yds, .112 5; 175, 16 4-ssecs. Though Paddock returned to the .States with affidavits verifying certain particulars, the American A.A.A. unkindly insists on certificates of due measurement of distances from the Hawaiian Association. The cabled news last week that A.

K. Mills had -won for the third year in succession the Marathon race from Windsor Castle to Stamford Bridge brings to light another world’s record and one that should stand for a long lime. Very few of the more important Marathon races have been won more than once by the same man. In the Olympic Marathon no runner has ever been twice placed. The race is the severest of all athletic fCsts, and only a few supermen have been able to do justice to themselves in any two within three months of each other. By winning the Boston Marathon of 25 miles (the principal event of its kind

in the States) on April 19 last, Clarence de Mar repeated his performance of 1911. This race has now on its records the name of two men who have won it twice. New York athletic followers were greatly disappointed when they heard recently that. Charley Paddock had refused to participate in any of the indoor meets in the East this winter. It- came as a rude shock ter those- who had expected to see the f lash” in action on the boards here. To our mind Paddock lias justified in his refusal, for he is a wise athlete and always thinks before he acts, states Dick Landon, in the “New York Herald.” 'l'h' rr seems to be at least three reasons why Charley should make this decision. First, he knows that ox cry sprinter in the world is after his scalp: second, be realises that his /ibiUty to sprint lies particularly on the cinder path and not- on the board floor; third, he has done little or no training at all lately. Last summer Padclock made the assertion that after the national championships he would never sprint Tho funny part about it is that every athlete that has a big reputation makes the same statement every year. nut| so far ('barley has stuck to his resolution despite rumours which have occasionally come out of the West to the effect that he would try to break this or that record. There isn’t much doubt in our mind that Paddock will sprint again, hut never as nt the past. IL has earned the reputation of being the fastest man as ho ever pulled on a shoe; his name is on the lips of everybody who knows anything about athletics, and naturally he walits to keep it there. Then memory keeps the athlete’s name bright. Paddock knows this and he knows too that whenever it now flash appears the public will want a race between them. 'There must come a time when Paddock will lose if he keeps giving everybody a crack at him. 'Then he will be forgotten, and the newcomer will be c rowned king of the sprinters. Maybe this won’t happen at the first loss of a race but if it keeps on it is a. surety. On the other hand, if Charley gradually retires every time a new man appears the public will accept him a.s their favourite, but they will always feel that Paddock could easily beat him and the old timers will hark back to th© days when he made so many world records a.s proof. We. all know that two years ago at the Mi 11 rose games Charley was beaten floor which, as a rule, is slippery never has been the sprinter on the boards that he was on the dirt. And he is doing the wise thing h\ keeping away from them. Then, too, the majority of the sprint races in the indoor meets are under a hundred yards and it is in distances of a hundred yards and over that he is M ms hostThe indoor game is an entirely different thing from the* outdoor. The best outdoor athletes are not necessarily the best op the boards. The ability to jrerform in the spikes and in soft soles is, with the majority of athletes, as far apart as the poles. By that wo do not mean that lhe athlete cannot heroine proficient at both, for he most surely can. However, it 1 takes Dino and an endless amount of work to get used to the hard hoard floor on which, as a rule, is slippery and without spring. Californians, in particular, have little opportunity to become experts nn anything but the cinder track for the simple reason that the Californian climate does not necessitate indoor activities, but on the other hand permits of outdoor athletic all the year round. It is unfair to accuse Paddock of being afraid to meet other sprinters for lie has time and again proven to every one’s satisfaction that lie can

meet- aJI cornel's and beat them. And if Charley should change his m'nd and accept the invitation io compete here in the East be would undoubtedly give as good an account of himself as he always has done in the past. For, being the great athlete that lie is, he would leave' no stone unturned to get himself in lib' very U'st condition possible. But it obviously would he a foolish thing for him to accept- an invitation when be- is not in rnnnng form,