Coaching and Care of Athletes

·COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES events by the British that it would be regarded as a waste of a most promising track star to train such a man for the 440 yds. hurdles. In America, on the other hand, 49 secs. quarter-milers would seem almost to be three for a penny, and when an American dis– covers that he is not likely to become quite first class in any event he usually turns his attention to some other branch of athletics which holds out better prospects of major success. All of which brings me to the actual nature of the event, for if the coach has a bunch of athletes all capable of 50 secs., or better, for 440 yds. on the flat, and all eager to try their luck at the inter– mediate hurdles, that coach is obviously in a better position than the poor fellow who has to go around beseeching men in the 55 secs. class at quarter-miling to let him train them into some sort of shape as quarter-mile hurdlers. > When all is said and done, however, it is not every man, even though he can run 440 yds. on the flat inside 48 secs., who can achieve success in such a gruelling race as the intermediate hurdles. Speed is not by a very long way the only quality required. Bresnahan and Tuttle have laid it down that "to become a winner an individual must combine a number of qualifications, such as the speed. or'the sprinter, the endurance of the half-miler, the relaxing ability ofthe distance runner, and the pace judgment ofthe quarter-miler." To which they add, na!vely enough, "but few athletes score roo per cent. in each of these five qualifications." That is perfectly true, but a good coach can usually build up the missing, or weak, essential if the athlete himself is keen and lion-hearted. I think the man who runs the intermediate hurdles, more than almost any other racing athlete, must possess two qualities which my American friends oflowa State University omitted to mention; and so to their list of qualifications I should add the courage of the pole-vaulter and the dogged determination of the Marathon man. Had Lord Burghley, of Cambridge, the Army, Great Britain, and the British Empire, stood 6 ft. r in. and turned the scale at round about r6o to 170 lb. I believe he would have been the greatest hurdler of all time and at all three distances. During his amazing career Burghley competed in about 380 athletic contests, of which he won 235 and wa$ runner-up on 88 occasions. These competitions included 225 hurdle races, of which he won 155 _and was second 45 times. Even javelin-throwing 306