Athletics of To-Day for Women

r 40 Athletics of To-day for Women I made the same remark in rgz8, when Miss F. C. Haynes (Picture 31) returned 6ot secs. for the previous world's r cord. It is only fair to the foreign record holders to add that the British record breakers have been forced to big performances by the most strenuous opposition, while Chmisow ka and Teitelbaum both finished almost alone in the races in which they set up new national figures. The ideal of quarter mile running i to find a girl something over 5 ft. 8 ins. in height, pow rfully built, and so full of stamina and grit that she can go bang through the worsted at the end of a punishing rac without ver having let up in h r pace from pi tol fire to fini hing post. I admit frankly th t I never believed that any girl would ver be found capable of performing such a miracle until I saw 1\li King and Miss tone come on to the tape almost togcth r at tamford rid<Ye in rgzg (Picture 87) ; but I came away from that meeting firmly convinced that two female Eric Liddells had b en brought to light, and now I dare not pr diet when the limit of women's record br aking in this event will be reached. I do believe, how ver, that, as time goes on, it will be discovered that there are two distinct type of quarter mil r. Ther will be the pres nt print r type who will ah: ays o their best to go right through in one burst, and not on in a million of them will do it, and the half mil r typ who will lug doggedly through th wh 1 di tancc with a vi w to making the ffort at the nd of th rac wh n the spe d of the dashing brigade has weed d out the w aklings. Either type may produce a world beater, but it seems to me logical to conclude that in the aggr gate the quarter miler mad from sprint rs will record the great r numb r of succe es. Thi onclusion is bas d largely upon the circum tance that most 440 yards races are run on unstringed cours s, where a tr men ous lot depends upon a girl's ability to get the pole po ition, th.. t is to say, the insid b rth on the track, at the beginning of a race. And this is where th sprinters, with their first- lass starting ability, \ ill score. All that has been said about starting and sprint running in