Athletics of To-Day 1929

6o Athletics of To-day the longer distance quarter-roiling type, who would probably have found their highest form at 6oo yards, as indeed has D. G. A. Lowe, who was beaten by the German, Dr. Otto Peltzer, in the world's half mile record time of r min. sr -! secs. in 1926, after having himself a week previously made a new world's record mark of 6oo yards in r min. rot secs. But the best example of all is, perhaps, J. E. Meredith. Born at Chester Heights, Pa., U.S.A., on November 14th, r892, he made his first appearance in athletics in 1904. His height was 5 ft. 9 ins., and at that time he tipped the scales at ro stone 5 lb., but weighed rr stone 4 lb. when at the age of 20 he came to the Olympic Games at Stockholm, 1912, and startled the world by his amazing running. At that period he had not won even an American junior championship, and at the time of the previous Olympiad had not yet entered college. His gr at achievem nts when repres nting Mercersberg Academy in the Scholastic Games gained for him, however, a place in the U.S.A. team, and he to d the line with the world's greatest half milers v hen the final of the 1912 Olympic 8oo metres was called on. In that race-and a blanket finish- he beat Melvin Sheppard, record br aker at 8oo and r,soo metres in London, 1908; I. N. Davenport, U..A. ; and H . raun, Germany, who had taken th Engli h title in r min. 58-} secs. There were many at Stockholmwho thought that the old hands would out-g neral the youngster in the final, but those of us who had watch d his running in the trials \ re le s certain. Anyway, T d J\I redithnot only won, but set a new Olympic oo metr s mark at r min. SI- 1 9 secs., and continuing on er ated a new world's half mile record of r min. 52 2 s cs. This surely would have been glory enough for any young t r of hi age, but two days lat r in a trial heat of 400 metres he broke the Olympic record for that distance as w 11. In the final, however, C. D. idpath, who had rec ntly set up a new collegiate record in Am rica, Hann s Braun, and E. F. I. Lindberg (winner of the A.A.U. championship rgrz, 49 secs.), all finished ahead of him. May, 1916, found M r dith, then 24 years of age, at the