Sporting and Athletic Records

i6 ATHLETIC MEETINGS PUTTING THE WEIGHT, the weight is of iron andspherical and weighs i61bs.: it must be put from the shoulder with one hand only and without follow from a 7ft. square (in the 'Varsity Sports the square is 1oft.); puts are measured perpendicularly from the first pitch of the weight to the frontline of the square, or to that line produced. In THROWING THE HAMMER, the hammer (head and handle) weighs 161bs.: the total length must not be more than 4ft., andno cross-piece, ring or loop at the end of the handle is allowed: the hammer is thrown without follow from within a circle 9ft. in diameter (at the Irish Championship Meeting the circle is 7ft. and at the 'Varsity Sports 30ft. in diameter): measurement is made from the first pitch of the hammer to the circumference of the circle in a straight line with the centre of the circle. At the Scottish Championship Meeting th hammer is thrown from a fixed mark without a turn. For American Amateur Performances, the conditions are to a large extent the same, with, however, the following important differences. In the POLE JUMP, the pole may only have one prong at the end and no competitor may during his vault raise the hand which was uppermost when he left the ground to a higher point on the pole, nor may he raise the hand which was undermost when he left the ground to any point on the pole above the other hand. These restrictions make it possible that equal jumps done under American A.A.A. laws arebetter performances than when done under the British rules. In the HURDLES the track is cinders instead of grass, which naturally conduces to some­ what faster times being done; while the top rail is moveable so that it comes away if touched. The effect of this is that American hurdlers, having no fear of a fall before their eyes, train themselves to clear the hurdle with fewer inches to spare than is quite safe where a mistake will bring you down; this also tends towards faster times. It is probable therefore, that equal times under British and American conditions denote