The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-05-19
AMERICANS At DISADVANTAGE
OLYMPIC PROGRAMME DROPS
HAMMER AND WEIGHT.

buCO- 0tOuC IAIA gpLlE AtAIUWIlA tAINC3A
Of Competitions 1t which Yankee
Athletes Are Ad~ept-EnGIand FHI
Behind Other Nations m Field Events,
American weight throwers will have
very little opportunity 10 roll up points
In the Olympic games In England next
year, for the events-the hammer and
shot-at which the Yankees excel, will
not be found on tho programme. Instead
Of these now universal exercises for the
big men thsre will be the discus. stou1
and spear, and they will be hurled In the
the most classic and In traditional keeping
with the olympian festival.
In the last Olympic games at Athens
England did not have an entry in the weight
events. and the fact was the cause Of quite
a lot Of comment after the team reached
home. II was suggested what o number
Of points were lost to the British because
they were not adept at these events, How
ever. there YVES some consolation for the
hE~nglishmen when 1t was figured that
America Jared but poorly in the discus
Greek style, the spear and the o A
second In the stone was the only SCORE to
the credit Of the Yankees. the Swedes had
the Spear honors all to themselves, while
the Finn won the discus, a Greek and Hun
garian being second and third.
The British Olympic committee has been
working or the programme for several
months, but It will not be officially given to
the public until after the international con-
ference at The Hague within a couple Of
weeks. OF oourse the general makeup Of
IL has been an open secret for some time and
II was known to include q fine list Of distance
runs. There will be very little jumping,
and what the weight events will be can be
gathered from the Sportsmon thus:
1T ie Characteristic OF Dur innate on-
~servatism that, despite the high reputation
which as & nation we nav so long enjoyed
for all around athletic proficiency and love
Of sport, there are certain games and exer-
cises, new in one sense but old in another,
but not In any sense to be despised, In which
we are so far from excelling that IL would
be scarcely possible to find throughout the
length and breadth Of the land W. a mod
erately skilled exponent OF them. Fol
illustration, one may turn to the Olympian
Games at Athens a year ago. To the de-
taohed onlooker, personally unooncerned
in the various contests and merely viewing
the whole as a spectacle, not the least inter-
esLlng feature Of hat remarkable festival
lay in the performance Of modern athletes
in the classic games OF the ancient Greeks.
1t was noteworthy that In lone Of these
exotic events, II one may term them 30, was
there q single British competitor, though
in eaoh case the field included representa-
tives Of almost every country which had
sent athletes TO the games:
Throwing the discus, the stone and.tbe
avAliN WaFa the three C0ntHSIa which
by reason Of their unusual nature Int the
historical interest attaching, to them at
peculiar attention; and, seeing the
success with which foreign athletes other
than native Greeks competed in them. it
Ii a matter OF much regret that no British
appeared among the entries. II
these games have found favor with French
men, Germans, Swedes. N~orwegians.
and Yankees, and by them been
practiSed with good results, why should
they be ignored in this country?
Throwing the discus. as a traditional
Of ancient days, i familiar. Of
all the world over, for every one
has seen In picture, photograph or fac
the s~culptured 'Discobolus.' 1t
may readily be imagined that curiosity
10 see the famous game. not only played
n actual fact but played In the ancient
upon the very ground trodden
by the godlike athletes who We'd one with
he other for the branch Of olive.
sThe discus itself 10 OF wood, iron trimmed, |
in shape, it has a diameter Of
oentimetres. or Just under Q inches, and
! weight OF 2 Kilograms, or just over
pounds. Two styles Of throwing are now
'eoognized-the free style and Hellenic
tyle' respectively. The latter is an en-
ieavor to reproduce the ancient method
md 10 based upon the attitude Of the Dis
the former is n concession 10
century up to- d~ateness.
THE invention OF the free style lie. indeed,
characteristic Of the modern athlete. When
discus throwing was first revived as a feat
II strength and skill ii was fondly imagined
hat the latest discobolus. exhibiting q ft
prope reverence, would model himself
lpon his famous prototype and emulate
n the living flesh the dexterous grace OF
sculptured stone. Not 30. however;
he ingenious modern athlete speedily dis
in the person, Q IL be said. of
Yankee. that by whirlng himself round
nd round after the tanner Of a hammer
hrower and 90 gaining an impetus other
rise unattainable, he could launch the
method, pose he as gracefully on
he pedestal as you please. II is difficult
o conceive Of any artist finding In the
modern d~isoobolus a oongenial subject for
lis ohisel; but what would you? We live in
ProsreSsiye g apd records must be
lTOhtl0 WhhUSNOI thb CObts
zone Ii inclined TO doubt. however, II
ven in the Hellenic style Of to-day the
Of the original discus thrower are
ruly reproduced. The trainers Of the rule,
,asfng the latter Upon the attitude In which
he sculptor carved his figure, have in
listed upon the thrower assuming and main
.in!ng 81 initiative. po=e which L. %
and contrary to q natural poss
hat one 10 tempted to think a mistake has
'een made and the statue wrongly inter-
reted. 1t 10 surely obvious that no right
anded athlete desirous Of hurting a dice,
r any other missile. az far as possible
rould prepare TO do 90 with his right foot
dvanced. thereby deprivinR himself Of all
he impetus which q body swing would
npart. II is more likely that the thrower
wont TO stand with his left foot fore
lost and just prior TO the moment Of de-
advanced the right foot. The posi-
llity Of the sculptor having depicted the
isoobolus In an attitude intermediate
etween those with which he began and
nded his performance does not appear
have been considered. As practised at
he present day, disous throwing 10 a game
whichmen Of heavy muscular build exoel.
the American, who was first In f,
free style, 10 a broad shouldered young
ant Of thick set, sturdy physique. Jaer-