Success in Athletics and how to obtain it

134 SUCCESS IN ATHLETICS although his weight would have prevented him from establishing a new World's Record. Flaxman had so far perfected his style that he could throw the hammer from a seven-foot drcle with four turns. Most people will laughingly dub this a freak performance, and one which does not benefit the thrower one jot. Well! they may be right, but " the proof of the pudding is in the eating." With three turns Flaxman was throwing between 130 and 140 feet, but with four turns he reached nearer 150 feet than 140 feet, and this from a man weighing under eleven stone too! If hammer-throwing is to be treated of from the very beginning for the benefit of the novice, it will be as well to start off by warnl'ng him that, if he is not blessed with an abundant amount of patience and perseverance, he had much better let this event alone altogether. That these two qualities really are neces– sary for success will be easily realised when it is stated that, at the time Flanagan developed his style from two turns to three within a seven-foot circle, he was an experienced thrower who, in Ireland, had thrown from a nine-foot circle with three turns, and had only taken to two turns when he went to America and had to throw from a seven-foot circle (the point of this will be seen in a moment). However, after Plaw had beaten him, Flanagan determined to learn to throw with three turns and yet remain within the seven-foot circle, and so he did, but it took him three years to learn to control his speed and stay within the ring while throwing the hammer in perfect style; this, it is hoped, will amply prove how important it is for the hammer-thrower to be possessed of both patience and perseverance.