Athletic Sports (extract)

Physical Characteristics of the Athlete small, and the muscle measurements ex­ ceedingly large, the girth of head falling on the five per cent line, while the girth of chest is on the ninety per cent line. The girthof the knee falls on the thirty per cent line, the girth of elbow on the twenty, and the girth of the thigh, calf, arm, and forearmnear the eighty percent line. If the measurements asplotted are correct, this man owes his success in jump­ ing rather to his light, bony framework, short trunk, and superbmuscular develop­ ment than to the relative strength of limb that we find in many jumpers. In a per­ son so constituted nearly every muscle in the body contributes something to the ef­ fort in jumping. Figs. 9, I D , and \ \,a y b (pages 77-81), Chart V. (page 82), introduce us to men prominent in another branch of athlet­ ics. In each case the weight falls near the ninety-five per cent class, though the height varies considerably. In all of the tracings, however, it will be noticed that the relative position occupied by the body and limbs on the chart has changed. In the figures previously considered, length of limb predominated; here the body, as shown by the sitting height, is longer pro­ portionally than either the arms or legs. 78