Why? The Science of Athletics

RECORDS AND RECORD BREAKING 1 79 brought about by only three circumstances. These are improved impedimenta, better technique and a greater mass of athletes striving to break records, or, in other words, more competition. This seems to argue a sug– gestion that man himself shows no physical or mental improvement upon his forefathers, but is this so, and are there no other factors to be taken into account ? Record Breaking Factors On the face of things it would appear that our ancestors must have been better men than ourselves. One supposes that they led healthier lives than we do, took more exercise and faced the elements in sterner circumstances, since they had neither trains nor motor cars and lived at least as well as we do ; and yet an examination of any suit of armour worn by the knights of the heroic age of chivalry suggests that, brave and hardy as the men of the Middle Ages may have been, they were yet not such fin€ physical specimens as the average modern athlete. Or, to return to our discussion of the high jump, it is reasonabl~ to assume that the Hon. M. J. Brooks, O.U.A.C., who was the first man ever to jump 6 ft., when he topped that height in 1876, was a finer physical speci– men, since he stood about 6 ft. himself, than Byrd Page who took the record up to 6 ft. 3 r/2 ins. and Sweeny who took it up to 6 ft. 5 5/8 ins., since both were men of under 5 ft. 8 ins. From this postulate we can assume also that it was the style used by the two Americans which enabled them to beat the Englishman's final · record of 6 ft. 2 I/2 ins . The explanation that better style gives better results will not, however, entirely get us over our difficulty, since Kotkas, of Finland, who won the European Championship 1934 at 6 ft. 6.7 ins., has no more style than had Brooks, and meanwhile such men as W. Marty, U.S.A., and his countryman, George Spitz, using two entirely different styles, have, by reason of the fact that they possess better technique than either Brooks or Kotkas, gone up to 6 ft. 9 I/8 ins. and 6ft. 8 r/2 ins. respectively, just about the