The Washington herald., 1921-04-26
SPORTS throu6I1|
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. 3-5 seconds. and winning the
220 in 81 seconds nat. q fifth of .
second under the old record.
consider this the most remark
able performance / have known In a
long experience in athletics. Com
peting myself on track and held for
twenty-four years ! have known all
of the great champions of the past
quarter century, and have seen many
record-breaking performances.
But no champion has ever before
run as consistently in fecord-break-
! ing form as this boy from Pasadena.
1t was remarkable enough for a
champion to break a e5-year-o
record in the 220-yard dash and
equal the worlds figures in the
classic 100. but to repeat such a
marvellous performance within a
week is little short of a miracle. 1t
marks Charlie Paddock as incom
parably the greatest short distance
runner the world has seen since stop
watches were invented.
Perhaps the lncient Greeks pro-
| duced his equal, for the Greeks held
their Olympian games at regular in
| tervals for over 1000 years. The
| Greeks were tall. blond men in
ancient times, well proportioned,
well trained through generation
after generation, and athletic COM
petition was an important part of
their daily life, and considered
necessary to the training of war
riors for defense of the state against
| foreign invasion.
| History tells of feats of strength,
speed and endurance unequaled in
modern times. Greek messengers
carrying news of Persian invasion.
crossed the mountains afoot, cover
ing approximately 100 miles a day.
When the Persian host was held by
the Spartans at Thermopylae a mes
senger sent to Athens for help trav-
eled so fast that the Greek tradition
said he had been picked up and car
ried by the gods.
Original Marathon.
Taking something of students in
| terest in ancient athletic perfor-
mances, I visited the museums at
| Athens. and the ancient athletic
fields, while competing in the Olym-
pic games of 1906. In the Greek
museum on the Acropolis there was
a section devoted to remains from
the battlefield at Marathon. 1t was
on the Plain of Marathon that the
| Greeks defeated an invading Per
| sian host with tremendous slaugh.
| ter. driving the Persians into tn,
sea and back to their ships. Mara.
thon is famous because of the ira
dition of the Greek messenger who
i hack to Afhnna xa-ff hn
of victory, and fell dead in the mar.
ket place after delivering his mes
| sage.
The modern marathon race Is rur
| over the mountainous course sup.
| posed to have been covered by that
| ancient athlete.
After the battle the dead Greeks
were buried on the plain. and n
mound of earth built over them. In
| the museum are the skeletons oil
scores ofSGreek fighting men-all
trained athletes.
The tremendous blows struck by
ancient fighters with sword and ak
are evidenced by scores of arm and
thigh bones, Topped off with a single
stroke as clea1ly as IL cut by a sur
| geon's saw. Most interesting were
two complete skeletons, articulated
and lying beside each other in a
glass case. They were of men ahbve
6 feet inches in height, and 1.-THE
large protuberances of bone where
tendons were attacked show that
they must have been muscled like
Hercules himself
Charlie Paddock Is a small man
compared with these ancients, but
he is built for speed. Like all sue
Cessfnl sprinters Paddock Is very
sturdy. He is of moderate height
but deep chested, broad shouldered
with good arms, a strong neck. and
exceptionally thick and muscular
legs. He lives in Pasadena, studies
at the University of Southern Cali
fornia, goes back and forth between
his home and college in ear that
he always drives himself. and
spends just about the average
| amount of time in athletic training.
He is bundle of nerves. Charlie is
a smiling, pleasant fellow. always
in good humor, yet under the sur
face he is always at high tension
before race, even, while IN train
ing y
He is as volatile as a Frenchman.
exuberant one moment and thought
full the next. A "hunch" has him
dancing all over the place. He be-
lieves in lunches" When he start
ed for the last Olympics his trainer
said to me:
It's all right-Charlia will win
sure. He told his father he has
bunch he'll win, and nothing in the
world can beat him. When he ran
against Kirksey last spring at STAN
ford he had a hunch he ought to go
up day ahead OF the team sent
him. knew IL he didn't go he'd
spend the day worrying over not
following his hunch, and he'd he
on edge and might not run his best.
He went when he wanted to, and
ran a record race"
Starts slowly.
Whenever Paddock goes on the
track he raps his knuckles against
piece of wood. Whether he does
II to offset any possible hoodoo, or
for a joke. no one knows. but as
soon as he knocks wood" he steps
to the starting line with a clear
mind.
He Is steady on the mark, and
until this year he never has been
a very fast starter. He has always
depended upon swinging deliberate
ly into his stride and then gradually
increasing his speed all the way to
the tame. Rarpard waFar, I.ko