The New York herald., 1922-03-12


participation IN an event to-day over
what it was years ago has made The
participation IN more than one event
BY an athlete virtually impossible. ~
the old days there weren't many heats
to race. Then spr:ater could walk
across tie field after ee had finished
ruEaing ana enter the broad jn1np.
The old way made Tor versatility, but
a. IN all other things to-day track
work has become highly specialized
Virtually no advance has been made
III the high jump. The high jump rec
ord or : feet 4@s inches. made BY
Mike Sweeney or the New York Ath-
ietic Club more than twenty years ago,
stood Tor an extraordinarily long time.
When Sweeney concluded his record
making jump he walked under the
q orsNar wfich lay cuiatly on it's rests
a foot sbCvo his llead--a fact which
nlaEes the Jchievemont OF that high
Jumper sven more remarkable. The
jumpers Of today are Invariably tall,
lanky men, not many Of whom can
walk easily under theubar they have
just cleared t- *
The type Of athlete has undergone q
transformation III manifold ways, and
perhaps il IS nothing TO cause wonder.
for the last tllirty-five years have
been years Of tremendous expansion in
every direction. In my day the ath-t
letes who competed were genuine
amateurs. who had no inducements 10
compete other than tho prizes for win
rcrs offered by the organization which
was running tile meet. To-day such
~,
track games more attractive and bet
ter attended. will pay the expenses OF
prominent athletes 10 and during the
competition in that earlier day tho
athlete WHO desired to run at get
OF games vas forced to pay every cent
of his own expenses. During my ca
reer as m athlete the only expenses
paid for me hy Yale were those con
nected with the intercollegiate track
meet. So this matter OF expenses is
another factor TO he considered for it
reduced the track material to thoSc
athletes who lived in the vicinity OF
the arenas where the games were con-
Quoted. Back in the timber somewhere
there may have been youths who
could hare established records 10
make naueht OF the best efforts OF
the present generation.
In the Good Old Days
Athletes Knew Each Other
Athletes nowadays are generally
Strangers 10 ono another. But earlier
II was different. We al knew each
other, friends all, n happy family.
That made 4 better, higher spirit.
which redounded TO the benefit of the
sport Other things helped foster
this spirit among the cinder track dey-
otees. namely. the spirit OF the on
lockers. | know more people watch q
track meet to-day than OF yore. but
then what IS the quality Of their at
tention?
There was real enthusiasm fire and
fervor among the watchers OF a few,
generations back. They yelled. they
ran out on the track. they threatened.
they lad to be, led from the field.
E'urtl eImore. they, made bets on The
different events. Who bets at 2 tracis
meet now? In 1890 / was told that at
the games OF the Berkely Athletic
Club now defunct. at Berkely Oval,
$4,000 in wagers was reclining in tno
safe OF tile Windsor Hotel. \ typiea'
manifestation OF the spirit or the times
was furnished when W. 9. Downs ot
Harvard and Walter Dohm OF Prince
ton We're matcLed against one another
IN coo yard race. Downs was "a
nous for his performance in the half
mile. Dohm for what lie could do at
the quarter. Thousands OF dollars
were bet on. that one race. This
speaks much Tor the interest in
track athletics over quarter or
ccrturY ago.
liz 1891 tue Yale track team went 10
London TO compete against Oxford
the first time 4 group OF American
athletes had gone abroad to engage in
competition. The visit 10 Europe Of
the Yale team was brought aoout as
result or an effort on my part 10 in
crease interest in track athletics
among Yale students. The idea was
tlat the plum os voyage 10 Europe
was too much Tor any promising
young sprinter TO resist
The story OF how the Yale Harvard
Oxford Cambridge meets expanded un-
til IN 1904 the donation OF 4 stadium
III Athens by wealthy Greek led 10
the first Oiympiad IS common Snowl-
edge. The development in athletics
that followed the first and subsequent
Olympiads was considerable, particu-
larly III foreign countries. As years
20 on the American olympic team
may look 10 more fercely contested
matches. The robust Scandinavians
have already shown their supremacy
i'll the longer distances, and other
countries VIII III all Likelihood develop
supremacy til other events. but tho
team or no nation wiz ever threaten
thc victory of any American team ~
whole
Track Athletics Are Those
Most Deserving of the Name
I am deeply sratifed ~ tho strides
taken w track athletics. for Y has
always been the sport dearest TO nc
and that which have considered the
only one really deserving OF the nane
athletics. Other sports such as base
bail ana football have been admitted
under the name athletics, but II b.
longs originally and in truth only 10
the sports az tie track. u was the
sport that matte tro ancient Greeks
greatest of ancient peoples, and It VII
bc. together with our other peculiarly
national games the sport tdat viii
make It's greatest OF the moderns.