Athletics of To-Day 1929

254 Athletics of To-day Olympic Trials, held in May, or not. There were to be two javelin throwing contests at that Olympiad-the orthodox " Held in the Middle, style and "Free Style." At the English Trials, A. H. Fyffe, O.U.A.C., won the orthodox event at ro8 ft. 9 ins., while the late H. A. Leeke, C.U.A.C., reached 135 ft. 3! ins. in the free style-and very free it was in those days. In one contest a wild Irishman broke the only javelin provided with his first throw and won the prize, because none of the other competitors got a chance of throwing at all. At the Swedish trials, Lemming put up a new world's record of r88 ft. The absurdity of including a free as well as a confined style was shown at the Games themselves when Eric Lemming took both contests, doing 178 ft. 7! ins. in the free style, and 179 ft. rot ins. in the restricted style. Two years later we started the English Amateur Field Events Association, and in rgrr the first English Championship was held. I have cause to remember the occasion since the Honorary Secretary of the City Police A.C., who were staging the championship in connection with their annual meeting at the Crystal Palace, rang me up the day the entries closed and stated that he had only three entries and asked if I could help him out. I said, "Yes, I'll enter, but I don't know anything about it." In point of fact I had never thrown a javelin before, so perhaps I was lucky to beat a moderate field and win my first English championship with a throw of rr8 ft. 4 ins. In some newspapers it has been remarked recently that Englishmen have no aptitude for javelin throwing and that there has been no improvement in the sport since it was first introduced into England, and yet I won the hampionship of rgrr at rr8 ft. 4 ins. and in rg28 threw r58 ft. at the Royal Airship Works Sports, Cardington- good nough for third place at the rgo8 Olympiad, but only good enough to give me fourth place at a small country meeting in rg28. owe mu t have made some progress in the last twenty years, despite the J eremiahs who think that English field events men never can be any good.