Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-08-03
TODAY'S SPRINTERS
AS FAST AS THOSE
OF 20 YEARS AGO
Craig, Lippincott and Drew
Equal of Wefers and
Others, Says Meredith
COMPETITION NOW KEENER
By TED MEREDITH

Many sporting writer's and athletic crit.
les take great delight In comparing ouI
| athletes Of today and those of 20 years
ago.
They really only find two events in which
| the track men of 20 years back hold the
upper hand, namely, the 100 and 220 yard
dashes.
After this discovery. which Is found by
looking over the track calendars of the
20 seasons ago, they claim the sprnters
in 1916 have fallen off, but the men in
the other events have greatly improved.
1t is true that some of our best sprinters
date back around 1896 in fact from 1896
until 1900 we had such men as Duffy,
Wefers Kraenzlein and Tewkesberry.
These men were truly great sprlnters, but
in the past few years the followers of
sport have seen some men who, l believe,
would have compared favorably with these
men. Who will say that the aforementioned
sprinters could beat Craig, Drew. Loomis
and Meyer in the 100 yard dash. or again.
who will declare Wefers far superior to
Craig and Lippincott, both Of whom equaled
Wefers's record?
It is not that our sprinters have fallen
back, but 1t is that 10 second and under
20 seconds are such common occurrences
nowadays that II is not looked upon with
astonishment. Back in 1896 these times
were rarely made by the amateurs. SO
Wefers and his contemporaries were looked
upon az marvels which they were, and
their followers have not stopped talking
about their feats yet.
In 20 years we won't hear much of
Drew, whom 1 have heard called the great
est sprinter that ever lived, but we still
hear of Wefers who ran 20 years ago
Why? Because Wefers was doing some
thing which few men were capable OF
coming anywhere near at that time.
Sprinters Have Improved
What was the result or the records made
by these men? new goal or mark was
set up for the sprinters and by constant
trying to get to that mark with 1t as a
goal the sprinters have gradually brought
their standards higher until today 1t is
not so unusual to have schoolboys doing
10 seconds.
Another thing. every boy who starts run
ming wants to be a sprlnter, and as a
result you get more men out in this event
than any other. Since competition means
business, you have the answer in a nut
shell.
Then we come to explain the improve
ments in the other events. The whole thing
can be placed to the blame of competition
Without II and enthusiasm from the follow.
ers OF sport we would still be back running
in the times and marks OF 20 years ago.
This competition has been in several forms.
The great number OF men out for the popu.
lar events, as the sprints and high Jump,
have worked out the solution in many cases
Men have started In these events and found
they could not toe the mark with the best
of them. so have taken. as a consolation, a
less popular event and made good
A man starting sprinting often will find
his best event is longer race and through
experiment finally he win strike that dis
tance at which he is best
Make Good Hurdlers
It always has been thought that a tall
slender fellow makes the best high Jumper
SO from that we get the big fellows out as
high jumpers. Later they are found 10 be
good hurders or broad jumpers and SO on
until We get host OF men in every event
and this is what brings down the marks.
Again, the schoolboys have helped the
lowering OF these marks a great deal We
now have schoolboy leagues under careful
supervision. which helps the boys 70 develon
properly so when they get their age ana
strength they are ready to start a good.
rounded athlete. without having TO 90
through all the preliminary training which
they did years ago
All these things have tended 70 bring
down the records until now we are told that
they have reached their limit Each time
we read Of an intercollegiate. national
or an olympiad meet we are
told that the past was the best ever and
Il is usually true, which only proves that
the limit has not been reached as yet.