The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-01-14

Dld IL. r. walker, the South African
sprinter, really run 100 yards in 9 2-5
seconds. and 120 yards in 11.25 sec
ondS. and Is ne faster than Arthur Duf-
fey and Bernie Wefers were at their
best? are questions that have created
more interest among the followers of
sprinting than any event In the past
few years
Two of the greatest records at two
on the four standard short distances,
made on the same day and by the same
sprinter, and ne practically In the lime
light but single year. Shades OF
John Owen. Luther Cary, John Crum.
speedy" Rush, Bernie Wefers and
Billy" Schick, our great 45 seconds
men; and Arthur Duffey. the real
amateur 8 3-5 sprinter, and Piper"
Donovan. the real professional man Of
the record class!
These last two champions more than
two yards slower than Walker, and the
first squad OF real wonders trailing
four yards back Yet why not? Rec
ords are being broken frequently, and
this has been fast year; yet the writ
er has seen too many new record men
exploded to be anything but from be-
yond the Mississippi" The feat is
possible, but nearly all critics are In
clined to wish the feats repeated, the
timers interviewed and the watches
tested before the marks go on the rec
ord books
Walker is Great.
IL there is an amateur sprinter lly-
Ing who has chance TO establish the
new marks it certainly is Walker. He
is the best of any amateur short dis
tance man In the limelight today. He
proved this at the Olympic games in
London last year, when he Won the
100-meter dash against the pick of the
world and equaled the worlds record
for the distance.
After that he toured the British Isles
with universal success and startled the
world by being timed 100 yards at
Abergavenny, Wales, in 2-5 seconds
An investigation showed that the
course was downhill and a bit short
The record was not allowed, but IT
furnished the best comparison of the
relative merits of Walker and Duffey,.
who in his prime was the best of the
amateur sprinters.
When Duffey was touring England
he went over practically the same
route that Walker did and at the Aber-
gavenny meet startled the world by
winning the century dash from a field
of champions In the sensational time
of Is seconds. No one over here be-
lieyed that Arthur had covered the dis
tame In tnat time. Yet 1t was a COM
parison, and to get facts Arthur Duff
fey has been interviewed regarding
Walkers performance
Ouffey Tells of Race.
Arthur, do you think Walker broke
both those records and that he Is fast
er than You were for the 100-yard
dash?" was asked.
"We.e-l-l. / don't know You see"
came the thoughtful answer
Never mind telling how much you
hate to see Your mark go Get down to
business and tell about that race In
Wales when you ran the distance In
9 Is seconds"
'I can do that said the little rec
ord-holder. I'm 1901 1 was touring the
British Isles and was invited to com
pete against the best available sprint
ters at the Abergavenny sports in
Wales, which Is the big Wales meet.
Morton, eNBritish champion: Lundy,
exWelsh champion; Mclean. the
Scotch champion, l was on scratch
and conceded marks to all the field
During the meet a drizzling rain fell.
This caused the powder In the starters
gun to dampen and the gun could not
be discharged. After several attempts,
by consent OF the starters 1t was de-
cided to start the Race by the use Of
base drum. This is common at
Scotch games, but 1t was the first time
was ever up against it,
'Well. 1t was easy, and we all got a
good start with the boom The first
half of the distance was level and we
were all punched. The second so
yards was down grade, and when we
struck 1t 1t was case Of run faster
than | ever did before In my life to
prevent falling, and the time was CIV
en- out as 9 1-5 seconds. The track was
remeasured and found 10 be bit snort.
OF course | claimed a new record, and
of course never received 1t.
II do think that 9 20 seconds will be |
accomplished and Walker seems to be |
the sprinter to do 1t, When I made /
the worlds record of 8 3-5 seconds | /
felt that ] had 9 2.5 seconds in me. |
for | was beaten by the gun and was
standing still when II was fired This .
lost me two feet, and II I was a fast /
'3-5' tnat day it meant only two feet i
faster to have the watch show me
equal TO Walkers 2-5 seconds