LOOKING BACK

NZ Truth, Issue 1153, 5 January 1928, Page 8

LOOKING BACK

Present Athletics Show Advance

It is always unsatisfactory to compare athletes of the present generation with those of the past.

DUT for all-round quality, apart from individual brilliancy, the athletes appearing on the field at the Australasian Championships last week can compare favorably with those of other days.

Distance running, hurdling and jumping are cases in point. Once upon a time, 4min. 30secs. was considered a clinking run and good enough to win an Australasian title any time, but nowadays we have men who run 4min. 25secs. against a powerful wind and to win an English, Continental or American title, a man must do 4min. 17secs. or better. Soaring Jumping too, has improved vastly and at the Australasian meet there were four men competing who are capable of clearing 6ft. or more and others who can get very close to it. In hurdling, to gain a place in a present-day Olympic final, a contestant would have to be capable of 15secs. Javelin throwing is also an event in which wonderful advance has been made. A few years ago, 160ft. was considered a splendid performance but along comes a mere lad named Stanley Lay, who hails from Hawera, and every time he throws the spear it goes round about 200ft. and that's near enough to world's championship class to suit anyone. There ai-e othez-s in New Zealand who can throw nearly 180ft. The same advance is to be noted when running through Australasian championship results over a period of years in the other field games.

Then again, take middle distance running. In 1893 the half-mile championship was won by K. F. McCrae (N.S.W.) in 2min. Bsecs. Last year it was Avon in lmin. 56secs. . There is an improvement that needs no enlarging upon.

It must be admitted, of course, that in the past there have been individual champions as brilliant, if not more so, than some of our present-day performers; but whereas those men were usually head and shoulders above the ruck, to-day's champion is in everpresent danger of having his laurels taken by half a dozen contenders. In the sprint events the improvements have not been so noticeable, as a man must be born a good sprinter with natural ability. Science may improve him by a few yards, but when it is a matter of splitting seconds and so much depends upon the ability of the timekeepers, it becomes a difficult matter to say that one man is definitely a better sprinter than another who has been credited with the same time.

In sprints it is whom a man actually beats, regardless of time, that stamps him with the hall-mark of ability. Could be but resurrect some of the champion sprinters of the past whose names appear in the record book, and place them in the tapes alongside Carlton, Lane, Parker and Leadbetter, we would possibly see a marvellous race, but as this is impossible, it is necessary to leave the matter of sprinters' abilities to mere conjecture and be content with the clear evidence of events where times and measurements are reasonably accurate. To conclude that athletics in Australasia and the rest of the world have definitely improved during- the last quarter of a century is a natural assumption on results alone.