Athletics of To-Day 1929

302 Athletics of To-day of r7o ft. 4! ins., which beat McGrath's best by nearly z! ft. Walsh was third at I59 ft. rt ins., and Tom Nicholson, Scotland (No. 3, Plate 54) fourth, 9 ins. ahead of D. L. J. Talbot, U.S.A., at I57 ft. 9! ins. Nicholson and Gillis might have done better; for the latter, who threw I49 ft. 6! ins. in the stadium for seventh place, had won the English title at r64 ft. Si ins., and the former had taken the Scottish title at r6z ft. 8 ins., but neither man could maintain a proper foothold on the sodden, slippery turf. Nicholson has had a remarkable career, and although now fifty years of age can still touch the rso ft. mark and that is almost up to Olympic standard. In r902 he won his first Scottish Hammer Throwing and Shot Putting Championships. Since then he has been selected four times to represent Great Britain at the Olympic Games, his last appearance being at Paris in r924, although he would have had no difficulty in qualifying for the British team in r928. He has won twenty-seven hammer throwing, sixteen shot putting, and four 56 lb. weight slinging championships in England and Scotland. From r9o8 onwards McGrath's star was in the ascendant, and at Long Island, U.S.A., on October 29th, I9II, he set the world's record mark at r87 ft. 4 ins. In the following year he raised the Olympic record to I79 ft. 7 9 tr ins., winning from Duncan Gillis, Canada, rs8 ft. 9! ins., but Tom icholson did not compete. That year the Scandinavians made their presence felt for the first time, C. Lind, Sweden, placing fourth at I49 ft. 7 ~ 3 ins., and other Swedes coming sixth and eighth thanks to the coaching of Ernie Hjertberg, who had come home from America to instruct his fellow countrymen. In the following year Lind came to England and was the first foreigner, other than an American, to win the English title. In r9ro the honour had been acquired by the late A. E. Flaxman, L.A.C., probably the most remarkable hammer thrower the world has ever seen. He stood 5 ft. 9 ins. and weighed less than rr stone, and yet by the most painstaking