Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-17


stay at the shoulders Of wykon his chances
of winning will be extraordinarily good.
Simpson himself h not without hope. That
boy has been the hard luck champion of the
eindeTpath ever since he entered Ohio State
University. In the Olympic games tryouts at
Boston In 1923 this dark haired hthe-limbed
sprinter looked the best of the field until he
reached the semi-finals. Half way down the
stretch he was still shoulder to shoulder with
WykOff. but in the closing yards when he made
his Anal drive, he pulled q muscle and fell
screaming 10 the track, losing his chance of
going scross the big pond.
That was not the end of Simpsons hard luck.
The following season he commenced to run
race after race in record time defeating such
stars III Bracey Of Texas, Elder Of Metre Dame.
and Ttlan. He was persuaded to use starting
blocks, which he understood were permissible
in championship races. The only hundred he
lost that season was TO Eddie Tolan on the
day that the Michigan wonder flashed across
the line In S-10 seconds. Tolan had not
used starting blocks on that occasion. Simp-
son ran the hundred several times in the
same record figures, but always with blocks
He Won the national collegiate championships
at Chicago in as seconds and was hailed
as the fastest Splinter OF all time. But in the
annual convention of the Amateur Athletic
Union at ST. Louis last Fall records with start
ing blocks were not allowed. and the fastest
oficial hundred was awarded to Tolan whom
Simpson had often defeated.
Simpson was hoping for revenge at the A.
A o. championships at Denver. He had hurt
his leg at Chicago in winning the national
collegiate 220 yards, and the muscle finally
broke down in q practice run at Denver. So
Simpson had to stand on the sidelines while
TolAn, whom he had defeated consistently all
season. went on to capture both races
Even that was not the fun extent of Simp-
sons hard luck. This season he did not lose
race until the national eollegiates at Chicago,
when he was beaten by Frank wykoff Of South
eTM California Simpson vas hoping TO equal
his record Of as seconds ofhcially. and did
nO& use starting blocks. His holes gave way
and he slipped as he came out, losing so much
ground In the FIRST nifty yards that he was
lucky 10 beat the rest OF the field
After this mishap the Ohio State boy Jour
neyed 70 Vancouver and ran against Williams.
The Canadian had been out of competition for
almost q year. Though the race was run on
his own home track, he was not In condition
to defend his championship. 1t looked like a
certain Simpson victory. Then Tolan came to
life again with a bang and proved himself ON
that day to be unbeatable
So Simpson, possibly the greatest sprinter
the world has ever seen still stands without
a national championship to his credit and Is
considered only the third best sprinter in the
country today. But it has been said that If q
man will stick long enough luck will always
change Possibly Simpson will have his great
day in Pittsburgh and beat his old rivals in
the national 100 yards But whether he wins
ar not George is sure to prove himself q true
sportsman. Though fate has stacked the cards
against him on several occasions, he has never
whimpered or alibied, taking each blow
squaxey on the chin and coming back for
more.
THE favorite of the field at Pittsburgh, how
ever will be Frankie Wykoff of the Los
Ana (yi1tk A. Iach
Spring this feet young Trojan won the Pacific
Coast, intercollegiate and national collegiate
championships He lost only one race during
the college season, and that TO a man whom
he later defeated-Hector Dyer of Stanford
University. On the occasion of this defeat
Dyer got of to a marvellous start. wykof tried
Z 30 hard to catch the other man that he tied
himself in knots and did not look ut all like a
champion.
saw that race and later in the season, after
watching Simpson run, it was my opinion that
the Ohio State man would defeat Wykof. But
Flying Frank not only beat Simpson-he ran
the hundred without starting blocks in as
seconds, the fastest official time ever made.
Early in the year, during the Southern Cali
fOrnia Amateur Athletic Union championships,
he had established these same ord-breaking
figures. His coach, Dean Cromwell, sincerely
believes that wykof will run the hundred in
is seconds before he is through. Though
the old-ti timers lift their eyebrows at such pre-
d1ctiOn, they did the same thing a few years
ago when Us seconds was suggested as pos
Mbility
wykof, when he is right, seems to possess
everything. He proved this IN the 1928 Olympic
tTyouts at Boston, when he won the hundred
meters from the greatest field ever assembled.
On that day he ran this distance four times in
10 3-5 seconds equaling the Olympic record.
WykoR then was still high school boy. It was