Coaching and Care of Athletes

COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES I refer to R. M. N. Tisdall, Cambridge University and Ireland. A trained gymnast from his youth up- mark that point !-and a regular daredevil, Robert Tisdall concluded his Varsity career in r93 r with the unprecedented and still unbroken record of winning four events at the Oxford and Cambridge Sports. His perform– ances were broad jump, 23 ft. ! in.; shot put, 40 ft. 8 ins . ; r 20 yds. hurdles, rs-5 secs.; and 440 yds. flat, 51 secs . Tisdall, standing over 6 ft. in height, was loosely but power– fully built, and certainly not less than r 2 to r3 stone in weight. In r93 r, I think I am right in saying, Tisdall's best time for 440 yds. on the flat was 50 secs. He then got down to serious training for the 400 metres hurdles at the Olympic Games at Los Angeles in 1932 . He was to be up against Burghley, holder of the Olympic title and record, L. Facelli, the Italian champion, J. Areskoug, the Swedish champion, both of whom had beaten Burghley OI} occa– sions, F. M . Taylor, U.S.A., Olympic champion in 1924 and holder of the world's record of 52 secs., made in 1928, and the new American star Glen Hardin (Plate V, Fig. 13), who had returned 53·4 secs. in the semi-final of the Olympic trials for the selection of the American team. The Olympic final at Los Angeles will not soon be forgotten. Areskoug rushed into the lead from the staggered · start, with Hardin, in the unfavourable outside lane, moving well; but Tis- dall, in the centre berth, seemed to get his foot to the ground f first over each of the early flights. Coming to the home stretch, Areskoug was all in, finished; Tisdall led the rest of the field by 5 yds., and the miracle of a man running the 400 metres hurdles in 50 secs. seemed something more than a dim possibility. Fate, however, was unkind, for Tisdall hit the tenth hurdle hard, staggered for 5 yds., and only just staved off the desperate finishing rush ofHardin, Taylor, and Burghky. He won in 51·8 secs., but was not allowed the world's and Olympic records because he had displaced one hurdle. Those record honours were awarded to Hardin, who was runner-up in 52 secs. Tisd<~.ll, in emulation of the all-round prowess of Andre, finished up the 1932 Games by taking eighth place in the Decathlon. In this contest he secured 7327· r 7 points with the following per– formances: roo metres, rr ·3 secs.; broad jump, 2 r ft. 7! ins.; shot, 41 ft. 3! ins.; high jump, 5 ft. 5 ins.; 400 metres, 49 secs.; rro metres hurdles, 15·5 secs.; discus, ro9 ft. 3t ins.; pole vault, ro ft. 6 ins.; javelin, 148 ft. 5~ ins.; and 1500 metres, 4 mins. 308 r 1