ATHLETICS IN 1877.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1250, 9 March 1878, Page 3

ATHLETICS IN 1877.

A living dog, we have been told, is better than a dead lion, and so it may be that the average athlete of the present day is better than the champion of the past age. It is always safe to uphold the present at the expense of the past, and we may be accused of going with the multitude in stating that the leading athletes of the year that iB now dving have attained to greater excellence tha* even did their predecessors. Ten or a dozen years ago, when Messrs Wilson, Ridley, Colheck, Chinnery, &c, were }n their zenith, it was thought that amateur pedestrian ism had reaped a pitch which it would have a difficulty in surmounting. All these were beyond doubt good men and true, but, as has been said so often, the times have changed, and amateur athletes amongst others have changed with them. It requires little moro than a glance at the doings of the past year for the truth of this assertion to be admitted, and as was the case with pedestrianism, so it is witli athletics, and the year 1877 will rank as a red letter one in the calendar of the amateur athlete.

First and foremost it has been associated with the formation of a ground restricted entirely to the use of amateurs. To the leading club in the amateur world —the London Athletic Club—is due all credit for this step, and if the opening season is to be taken as a criterion, the executive of that body will have no great cause to regret their venture. And when on the subject of these enclosed grounds, it may not be 6u,t of place to remark, that much of the improvement in i-eeent performances is due to them. The running paths are better constructed now than some years ago, and at Lillie Bridge and Stamford Bridge gentlemen have opportunities for practice denied to those who were eager for distinction in bygone davs. In running and walking, as in everything else, practice tends towards perfection, and if the heroes of 18?? continue at work there is no saying what they may do in 1878. Records have been changed over and over again this year, and we confidently expect still further changes next. In sprinting some notable deeds have been done, and new aspirants introduced. J. Shearman, of the L.A.C.—always a good man—has gone on steadily improving, and has been credited with one fastest on record, and with

equalling another. At Lillie Bridge, on June 2nd, he ran 200 yards in 20 2-sth sec, and five days later, at the same ground, his time for a " quarter mile" was 50 25th sec, which tios with Colbeek's great performances in 1868 at Beaufort House, where a considerable part of the journey was on (lie fall of the foot. The greatest accession to the ranks of sprinters, however, has been that of the Russian, Junker, who, in the autumn, at Stamford Bridge, made such sad havoc of our metropolitan short distance men, and who, according to the official watch-holders, covered 150 yards, less one yard, in 15sec. Great work this for one who is by no means brilliant as a beginner. We have never yet seen " even" time accomplished unless by a man particularly busy [in the first fifty yards. If Junker improves in starting—and there is much room for it —he may reach the magic number, but not till then. The renowned Elborough, who has perhaps the best natural style of running we ever saw, has not this year done all that was expected of him, but he was, nevertheless, credited with the fastest 600 yards, at Stamford-bridge, in April, the time being lmin. 14 3-sth sec. Hazen-Wood defeated him at Birmingham in a 1000 yards race in very good time indeed, but both fit and well it would be on another meeting long odds on the Londoner. At three-quarters of a mile Slade, the One Mile Champion, gave a new figure in 3min. 14 3-sth sec, but at the longer distances the greatest improvements have been witnessed. Gibb, of the London Athletic Club, lias come out in tremendous form, and from three miles up to ten miles has done such feats as never were before approached by amateurs. At Cambridge he ran three miles in 14min. 46sec, and at Stamford-bridge, in November, his time for ten miles was 54min. 49sec, being nearly three minutes better than the hitherto best on record. These, no doubt, lire good performances, but they are still far from wonderful, and in 1878 we are much mistaken if Gibb does not still further reduce them.