Coaching and Care of Athletes

CHAPTER XXV THE HOP, STEP, AND JUMP ALL forms of jumping have been popular in Ireland from time immemorial, and from that country came all the great exponents of the hop, step, and jump in the early days and middle years of athletic history. Americans won this event at the Olympic Games up to I908, in which year T. J. Ahearne, Ireland (Plate IX, Fig. 29), was successful with an Olympic record of 48 ft. IIt ins. In I9I I his brother IYan, at that time naturalized in America, made a world's record of 50 ft. I I ins. This record stood until the Olympic Games of I924, when A. W. Winter, Australia (Plate XLIX, Fig. 149), improved upon it by 1\ in. Meanwhile two _Scandinavian athletes, G. Lindblom, Sweden, and V. Tuulos, Finland, had taken Olympic titles, and the Argentine had produced an athlete capable of beating 50 ft . in L. Bruneto, Olympic runner-up to 'Nick' Winter. M. Oda, Japan, was sixth in the I924 Olympic contest at 46 ft. 9 ins. Four years later he took the title at 49 ft . I I ins., thus achieving Japan's first Olympic victory. It is :no exaggeration to say that since I928 Japanese athletes haye remained pre-eminent in the hop, step, and jump. In I93I Oda increased the world's record to SIft. If ins., while C. Nambu (Plate XLVIII, Fig. I45, and Plate XLIX, Fig. I47) reached 26 ft , 2t ins. for a new world's broad jump record. In I932 at Los Angeles Nambu failed to win the Olympic broad jump, but took the hop, step, and jump with a new world's record of SI ft. 7 ins., which was broken in I935 by J. P. Metcalfe, Australia (Plate XLVIII, Fig. 146), with 5I ft. 9i ins. This record stood until N. Tajima, Japan (Plate XLIX, Fig. I48), won the Olympic title in I936 at 52 ft. si ins. from M. Harada, - Japan (Plate XLVIII, Fig. I44), 51 ft. 4! ins., and Metcalfe, 50 ft. I o! ins. The first English Championship, instituted by the English Amateur Field-events Association in I9I I, was won by the Irish– man M. D. Dineen at 4I ft. 6 ins. In America a championship 373