Rowing and Track Athletics (extract)

Track A thletics throwing the fifty-six-pound weight from a seven– foot circle without follow- the form prescribed at the Amateur Athletic Union meets since 1887 - is 36 feet 9! inches, and it was made by John Flanagan in 190 I. Throwing with one hand, in what is called the Irish style, with unlimited run and follow, Mitchell, in 1903, set up a record of 38 feet 5 inches. He has thrown it from the side with one hand without run or follow - the old style in use before the present rule was adopted - 2 7 feet 4 inches. This record was made in Canada in I 889, after this method of throwing the weight had been given up in this country. Throwing for height Mitchell made, in 1897, a record of 15 feet 6-§- inches, which indicates some– what the strength of the man's back and loin muscles. Discus-throwing is another sport included in the programme of the Amateur Athletic Union, but not yet regular I y practised in the colleges. The revival of the Olympic Games at Athens, in r 896, and the winning of the ancient Greek event by a member of the American team aroused interest in discus-tbrowing and caused its intro– duction into this country. The discus is a circu– lar disk, made of wood, brass, and steel, eight inches in diameter, about two inches thick in the middle, and half an inch thick at the edges. It weighs about four and one-half pounds. In this country