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1940
(Minneapolis, June 22)
(heavy rain; held indoors)
1. Jackie Robinson (UCLA) Sr 24‑10¼
2. Billy Brown (LSU) Jr 24‑¾
3. Welles Hodgson (Minnesota) Jr-Sr 23‑11¼
4. Pat Turner (UCLA) Sr 23‑8
5. Bill Lacefield (UCLA) Jr 22‑8¼
6. Walter Arrington (Michigan St) Jr 22‑7
(7.57, 7.33, 7.29, 7.21, 6.91, 6.88)
What was it, seven years later when JR broke went up to the Dodgers' big league team? He'd been in the army and bulked up by then, no longer a four sports guy...
1, Jackie Robinson (UCLA) 25-0 MR (old MR 24-10 George Boone [USC] '36; this was Robinson's first meet of the year)
2, Pat Turner (UCLA) 24-4 1/2 or 4 3/4, sources vary)
3, Bill Lacefield (UCLA) 23-11
4, Mel Bleeker (USC) 23-7 3/4
5. Roy Brown (Stan) 23-2 1/4
I'll let the stat freaks do the analysis/research if they wish, but my 6th sense tells me the Long Jump, nee Broad Jump, has improved the least since pre-WW II, of all events, except maybe the 100, (but that's hard to compare due to h and e timing) That would be at the top level, then at 10th, 25th, and 50th, be it all-time lists or annual lists. And without the advent of tartan runways it would be much narrower.
Reason ? It's a "natural" event, with the least technological/coaching improvements possible. And as to tartan vs. cinders, the tartan helped the 3J( nee Hop-Step-Jump ! ) immeasurably more than it helped the LJ/BJ, for obvious reasons.
Reason ? It's a "natural" event, with the least technological/coaching improvements possible. And as to tartan vs. cinders, the tartan helped the 3J( nee Hop-Step-Jump ! ) immeasurably more than it helped the LJ/BJ, for obvious reasons.
not too sure about that
ole timers say that a synthetic track was 1s quicker than dirt
assume they were ~ 50s guys, that's 1/50 or 2% quicker
for any jumps, you'd get 2% better speed & probably 2% better "take-off" from the harder track ( better potential energy return ), giving ~ 1.02^2 = 1.04 improvement
i'd suggest dirt-track performances of following woud be on synthetic :
Nothing scientific about it but artificial surface tracks definitely make a huge difference.
Personal experience: I was never a world class athlete but circa 1949-52, age 18-21, I was chasing Thane Baker on cinders running 9.7y.
In 1972, age 40-41 and five pounds heavier, I was still chasing Thane in Masters competion running 10.1y on tartan.
Gotta believe, all things being equal, I had to have slowed down more than that in twenty years.
Last week, while in Pasadena for the Breeders' Cup, I drove down Washington Boulevard. When I crossed Pepper Street, where Jackie Robinson lived, I got goosebumps.
About a year ago, I was at a concert and found myself standing five feet away from Rachel Robinson, Jackie's widow. Yes, I recognized her. Yes, I got goose bumps.
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