Evening star., 1925-02-16


the marks they made in their earli
ing by many seconds the marks he
is the point-Paavo does not believe
My development, surprising {
gradual Paavo says. And, accort
and have been Glowing, am not
Il think in another four or five
years, possibly in the Olympic games
of 1928, 1 will show performances
which will prove much superior to
those of the past two or three years.
hope during my current visit
here to set new records for all dis
, tances from three-quarters of a mile
10 10000 meters, some of which now
hold. But my outdoor efforts will
extend beyond those events in both
directions. If my plans for the next
hve years materialize I will have es-
tablished world marks for all dis
tsnces from 500 meters to the mara
thon distance"
F'or years Paavo has been telling
folks that on such and sue ha date
ne would break this or that record
And Paavo has done as he said For
weeks he has been telling Americans
that this or that indoor record would
1all and they have seen the fulfill
-''Ohe VI tHOSe pTeQlCtlOnS. so when
faaVo asserts he will hold every
world mark from 500 meters TO the
marathon distance of 26 miles 3S5
yards it seems like a promise.
, Paavo now holds the outdoor rec
ords Tor 1,SoO meters, 1000 meters
"'voo meters, 5000 meters and 10. 900
meters. and those for l mile. Q
miles, miles, miles, miles
ana miles, and the distance
rune records for 15 minutes
and 30 minutes, not to mention manv
records at odd distances. His indoor
campaign, not yet completed, has
brought him nearly a score of marks
ranging from three-Quarters of
mile to 10000 meters.
Has shown Marathon AbiI,tx
Paavo has disclosed exceptional
range in speed and endurance as
well as an exceptional combination
OF those two factors. In, practice
workouts he has closely pressed the
oV0-meter and the SS0-yard marks.
now held by Ted Meredith, and in his
training in Finland he has covered
distances up to 20 miles in much
iaster time than marathon special
1st ever was clocked. And by con-
centrating first on the shorter courses
and gradually moving up to the
marathon distance, Paavo sees no
reason why all the running records
between and including those distances
should not stand against his name
He has made study of all the
FORMER and present record holders at
the distances involved-knows their
times for each lap or each mile, how
they trained for the special distance
and the weather and track conditions
on the day of the race-and tenta-
lively he has laid his plans for run
ninS each distance. These records
will fall, sure as fate.
That study of champions has
brought out an interesting ranking
OF runners, past and present
FaaVo rates w: G. George, the Brit
ish champion of 40 years ago, as the
greatest of the old-time stars.
His record for the mile, minutes
I'm seconds, made at Lille Bridge
London, in 1885, was the real world
record until my race with Wide in
1928, Paavo declares, "and he was
consistently good in all his races
not one-day man like your Norman
1abor, whose minues IL as seconds
made in paced race, was granted a
place on the record books Over
period of years. / should say George
was the best at distances around the
mile.
And another Englishman, Alfred
shruDb, was to my mind the greatest
runner at distances above the mile.
You have only to consult the record
books to learn this. for his marks
for eight distances. from the 2 mi's
10 the 10 miles made in 1904, stood
until L broke them-and / did not
succeed in breaking all of them until
last year.
How He Rates Americans,
"Unquestionably Tommy Connect.
George Tinckler and other of your
American runners of 20 to 40 years
ago were exceptional men, but 1
think not quite SO good as those two
great English runners.
Your American runners of today.
however, are superior to those of
other countries. 1 regard Elvin Wide
of Sweden as my greatest rival at
1900 to 5000 meters and my fellow
countryman, Willie Ritola, as my
most difficult foeman in races above
the 3,000-meter distance. But in
each case that is one great runner
to a nation. where you have many
great runners.
''Joie Ray. of course, is your best
man. notwithstanding the fact he
has done little in Olympic competi-
tion, he has made truly fine record
IN both indoor and outdoor compe-
tition and he seems to be improving
with the years. l know of no man
who can boast so many figures of
minutes and 20 seconds or better
for the one-mile run, and for con-
sistency he is far ahead of all your
Connects and TincklerS and Tabors.
Your John Paul Jones may have been
his superior, but he remained too
short a time in competition for me
to judge.
"Then you have Hahn and Con-
nelly and Larivee and Watson and
Kirby and i don't know how many
more who approach real greatness
and may attain that in another year
or two. They. with Joie Ray, form
much superior group of 1900
meter and mile runners than Great
Britain or any other nation pos
sesses.'
Copyright. 1928, in u. S.. Canada and
Great Britain by North American Newspaper
Alliance. Copyright (New York World) Press
Publishing Co. All rights reseryed.)