Rowing and Track Athletics (extract)

392 Track Athletics round athlete had to reach in at least seven of the ten events in order not to be counted out were as follows: one-hundred-yard dash, r rt seconds; one-mile run, 5 minutes 40 seconds ; half-mile walk, 4 minutes 30 seconds; one-hun– dred-twenty-yard hurdles, 2ot seconds; high jump, 5 feet; broad jump, 18 feet; pole-vault, 8 feet 6 inches; sixteen-pound shot, 32 feet; sixteen-pound hammer, 95 feet; fifty-six-pound weight, 24 feet. When a contestant failed in any three of these events and was forced to drop out, his other points were cancelled, so that every other contestant whom he had beaten in any event was moved up a place. If Jones beat Smith and Robinson in the hundred, for exam– ple, and was later disqualified, Smith was named the victor in the hundred, and Robinson was moved up from third to second place. By this device it was impossible for a star performer to win the competition by specializing in the chosen events. First place counted five points, second three points, and third one point. The obvious injustice of this method of counting in a contest, designed to illustrate all-round development rather than specialized development, was that a man might show a really remarkable general average of performances and yet not finish better than fourth or fifth in a majority, or even in all, of the events.