Athletics

PREFACE THE appearance of yet another contribution to the literature of Athletics seems to call for some explanation in a decade which has witnessed a considerable output of works on that subject. Simply to have written another text-book on some particular branches of the sport would merit criticism but we venture to think that a comprehensive study of the whole subject is sufficiently original and desirable to justify the present volume. Among all the modern books on Athletics there exists none, as far as we are aware, which treats of the sport from every angle. It has been our aim to present, in a way which has not been attempted since Sir Montague Shearmans classic in the eighties, a complete study not only of the technical side of Athletics, including its application to women and boys, but also of its history and records. With this object in view the scope of the present work falls within two main categories. In the first, we have thought fit to relate the historical development of the sport throughout the world, treating such important topics as the Olympic Games and International Athletics as distinct phases. In the second, we have dealt at length with the technique of the sport, and we have rendered each section, whether on running, jumping or throwing, as authoritative as possible. It is quite evident, of course, that no two authors, however experienced or versatile, could write with personal knowledge of all the many and widely diverse events which comprise an athletic sports programme. To overcome this difficulty we sought and obtained assistance. It has been our great good fortune to secure the collaboration of two experts in some of the most technical subjects of which we had to treat.....