Why? The Science of Athletics

ATHLETIC TESTS AND MEASUREMENTS OF ABILITY 163 and testing athletic potentialities and abilities at some length, because I think American thoroughness and their passion for athletic research goes a long way to explain the phenomenal success America enjoys in so many fields of sport. So far as England is· concerned, excellent work is now being carried out by the Physi~al Education Staff of the Board of Education and also - throughout the Physical Training Departments of the Fighting Services. Some suggestions for tests and the establishment of suitable standards for boys will be found, also, in The Games Master's Handbook (John F. Shaw & Co., Ltd., London). A good deal of research work has been done from time to time with a view to drawing up some form of co~parative table giving the relative value of performance in various events, since, quite naturally, questions have not infrequently arisen as to the merit of, say, 100 yards in 10 secs., as compared with a 12-ft. pole vault or a 6-ft.· high junip. Decathlon Scoring Af the Third Congress of the Interna– tional Amateur Athletic Federation, held at Geneva in I92 I, a system of scoring for the Decathlon was adopted, on the principle that "for a performance similar to the best result obtained at the I9I2 or previous Olympic Games I,ooo points will be awarded. Other performances are valued in acGordance with this table. If a performance exceeds these records correspondingly higher points will be awarded ~ " The method was, of course, an arbitrary one. The records scoring 1 ,ooo points are given below, together with the rates at -which other times and distances were to be scored.