Athletics of To-Day for Women

r6o Athletics of To-day for Women about these pictures of Miss Hatt and Miss White. It is the absolute perfection of the way the true sprinting angle of the body above the hips can be preserved during hurdle clearance. It is difficult to say which of the three girls is the best stylist, Hilda Hatt, Ruth Becker, or Marjorie Clark (Picture 41). For the purposes of illustration I have chosen a series of pictures of the rman girl, and those readers who are familiar with my other book, Athletics of To-Day, which was written for men, will be struck by the similarity in style betwe n uth Becker and Earl Thomson, the gr atest male hurdler the world has yet seen. Before proceeding to the full description of Fraulein Becker's style, however, there are several points of theory that ought to be dealt with. On the face of things it would appear that men and women alike have reached the limit of difference in covering a given distance (a) over hurdles and (b) on the fiat . Thus we find that in 1908 Reggie Walker, outh Africa, ran 120 yards on the fiat in II~ sec ., and in 1920 and 1921 Earl Thomson, Canada, covered 120 yards and cleared ro flights of 3 ft. 6 in. hurdl s in 14g· s cs. Thi repr s nts a difference of 3 secs. in the tin1e taken to cover 120 yards by (a) the best sprint r and (b) the best hurdl r in th world. ut in July, 1928, Marjorie Clark, outh Afri a, made a world's record by running roo yards and clearing 8 flights of 2 ft. 6 in. hurdles in 13 4 secs., and in July, rgzg, Betty Robinson, U.. A., sprinted roo yards in II~ sec . o that there is a diff rence of only zt secs. b tween the best woman hurdl r and the b st woman sprinter in the world. In oth r words the differ nee a between women is ~ths less than the diff rence as between men. And y t I am ery far from b ing convinced that women hurdl rs have v n yet reache anything like the limit of their potentialities. Precedent is not alway a s fe guid to success, and I am in lin d to think that p ople who have be n ntrusted with the c a hing f girl athl t s hav mad a mi tak in mod lling th ir t aching too dos ly up n the m n' styl f hurdling o r 3 ft. 6 in. f ne s. L ]r at i.h matter first of all fr m th