Track Athletics in Detail (extract)

52 TRACK ATHLETICS IN DETAIL foot and stride over the bar with the right. For the sake of uniformity and convenience, therefore, let us hereafter understand jumping foot for left foot. One of the striking features of the series of illustrations of pages 58 and 59 is that it proves that a high jumper practically steps over the bar with one stride instead of flying over it in a com­ pact bunch, as he appears to do when watched by the naked eye. The bar in all these pictures was at 5 feet 8 inches, and each photograph necessitated a separate jump. This alone is enough to show in what excellent form the athlete worked, for a kinetoscope could not have caught the separate actions in one le^p to better effect than these photographs have shown them in eight different leaps. Good form in high jumping is one of the prime requisites for success. It is only within the past few years that much attention has been given to this feature of the exercise, and it is no doubt for this reason that the record has been so steadily climbing. The picture of G. B. Fearing, the Har­ vard high jumper, on the opposite page, is repro­ duced from a photograph taken in 1892. He was a splendid all-around athlete and a clever jumper, but he had no form. His sole thought was to get over the bar, and form could take care of itself. As he clears the bar in this picture both his feet appear to be curled up under his body, and his