The Fourth Olympiad London 1908 (extracts)

62 The four American were the best in the United States, and had n ver met before. As Smithson had already equalled the Olympic record in the second round, it wa expected he would do even better in the final. The start was excellent, but mithson gained slightly over each hurdle in perfect style, and won by fi,·e yards, creating a world's record, although Kraenzlein's 15,; at Chicago, on June 18 of the same year, had been run on cinders over 120 yards, which is ~ of a yard shorter thrn Smithson' I ro metres on grass. Thi· race was run on the last clay of the Games, in fine weather, just before Her Majesty the ueen distributed the gold medals, and helped to make a worthy conclusion to the splendid perform anc~s of the past fortnight. Forrest Smithson, 23 years old, was 6 ft. high, and weighed I 2. t. ro lb born fo Portland, Oregon, ..A., and had never showed such fine pace before. Garrells, of Iichigan, wa. a year younger, and had done 151 se~onds, besides putting the shot and the di cus-a good all-round man. Shaw, of Joliet, Illinois, had been timed at r 51 second , and was an extraordinarily clean and neat hurdler. Diploma· o[ Merit fur the 110 1etres Hurdles were awarded to \V. I. Rand, U..A., and A. H. Healey, U.K. VIL - FOUR HUNDRED METRES HURDLES (43T4 yards). [Ten flights of 3 ft. Hurdles, 35 metres apart, beginning 45 metres (49·2 r 3 yards) from the scratch mark and ending 40 metres from the finish, _011 grass.] FIRST ROUND. Heat r. -E. Koops, Holland, walked over. Heat 2.-H. L. Coe, United States, I ; J. B. Den ham, United Kingdom, 2. A great race. The American won by rt yards. Time, 58{ sec. Heat 3.-C. J. Bacon, United States, I ; H. St. A. furray, Australasia, 2. 1urray was outpaced. from the start, and Bacon won by 20 yards in 57 sec. (beatinCY Olympic record of 5('. sec. by Tewkesbury, nited tates, at Paris, in 1904). Heat 4.-F. ,v. Harmer, United Kingdom, walked over. Heat 5.-G. Burton, United Kingdom, walked over. Heat 6.-H. L. Hillman, United States, I ; G. Dubois, France, o. Dubois retired a hundred yards from home. Time, 59J sec. Heat 7.-0. Groenings, United Kingdom, walked over. Heat 8.-E. \V. Gould, United Kingdom, walk cl over. Heat 9.- . Kovacs, Hungary, walked over. Heat ro.-L. F. Tremeer, United Kingdom, ·walked over. Heat 11.-Void, no starters. Heat 12.-L. A. Burton, United Kingdom, r; H. Mcslot, France, 2. A great race throughout, but in the straight Burton got away and won by 3 yards. Time, 6oJ sec.