Athlete

“ The manliest athlete and frankest amateur—who would blush at the praise of social equals—finds it hard to resist the apparently bluff outspoken applause of his inferiors bestowed on his prowess in field sports, whether rowing or riding, with rod or gun. Of course it frequently happens that the sportsman really does excel as a shot ”

“ Nor is it only cricket, football, and rowing that are the objects of our worship. Even so staid and contemplative a pastime as golf ranks among 'athletics;' and perhaps in time the authorities will be asked to give a 'Blue' for croquet. These things being so, on the whole, perhaps, we should be grateful to the eminent athlete for the comparative affability of his demeanour, so long as he is not seriously contradicted. He is great, but he is generally merciful. ”

“ Athletics have an obvious advantage over the classics for the purpose of leisure-class learning, since success as an athlete presumes, not only a waste of time, but also a waste of money, as well as the possession of certain highly unindustrial archaic traits of character and temperament. ”

“ This neatly gotten-up book is full of valuable hints to athletes of whatever kind and character, having been compiled with rare judgment, which long years of laborious work in the sporting world has given its author. The unpretentious volume, among other things, contains useful chapters on Training for Rowing, Boxing, Wrestling, and Pedestrianism, in addition to instructions for High and Broad Jumping, Fair Walking, Hammer-throwing, and in fact everything else useful to the professional or amateur athlete. ”

“ But these shortcomings only slightly detract from the manliness of his appearance, and in youth it is easy to see that he must have been an athlete. There is still plenty of power in the long sinewy arms, brown hands, and bull-neck, and intense vital energy in the bright blue eye. ”

“ And, seriously now, where did Mr. D. ever get his superb athletic training, because, oh! how all too rare it is to see a brain-worker of strong mentality and a splendid athlete in one and the same man. ”

“ The man who was guiding them had to clear a field until recently used for pasturage, and filled with venerable stumps—an athlete's task which his energy, his youth, and his eight almost untamed beasts were hardly sufficient to accomplish. ”

“ These questions must be considered from two very different standpoints, namely, from that of the professional athlete and that of the average person who wants to get into lasting "good condition." Throughout this article, even when treating of special training, the amateur and his modified needs are not forgotten. ”

“ His directions concerning health and exercise have the advantage of being drawn from personal experience, for he was an "all-round" athlete, a fine boxer, a skilled and graceful fencer, and all but an amphibian in the water. ”

“ The great effort of athletic trainers is to develop what is called “form.” What this really means is that they try to teach the athlete the best way of making the desired motions, and then drill him in that particular way, so that it becomes completely reflex with him. The more fully this is done, the better will the athlete perform. ”

“ Imagine the athletes of every village training for those prizes—thousands of boy-topers turning gymnasts, ward delegates running for something besides office, and the members of a Young Men's Association seeking paradise on this side of the grave!
With the decadence of athletic sports, games of skill come generally into favor ”

“ Any good authority will tell us, however, that a truly capable athlete will not try to specialize so much in any one kind of contest that he cannot do justice to the others. As an all around well-trained man he will try to excel in the Pentathlon, the “five contests.” Herein he will successfully join in running, javelin casting, quoit throwing, leaping, and wrestling. [*] As the contest proceeds the weaker athletes will be eliminated; only the two fittest will be left for the final trial of strength and skill. ”

“ Nay more, in any other contests of strength and endurance, I believe they would more than hold their own against any younger athletes; and would overwhelm any similar number of non-athletes of the same or any other age. As contests I should select a hard day's shooting over dogs, cross-country riding, tug-of-war, boxing, long-distance rowing, or, in fact, any contest in which the special element of racing in light ships has no part. ”

“ The result was that by the time outdoor work was reached he knew a good deal on the subject, although much of his knowledge was as yet theoretical, and would have impressed the wiliest veteran athlete as being an old hand. ”

“ The athletes are moving rapidly, and using their arms as wings. On the other hand, those who were running a long distance clenched their fists and held their arms close to their sides, as do our modern runners. A peculiar custom prevailed during the games. It is said the contestants kept up a loud shouting in order to retain their courage, while at the same time the admiring spectators cheered wildly as some favorite or friend neared the goal. ”

“ In addition to the ordinary gymnastic exercises of the palaestra, the athletes were instructed in carrying heavy loads, lifting weights, bending iron rods, striking at a suspended leather sack filled with sand or flour, taming bulls, &c. Boxers had to practise delving the ground, to strengthen their upper limbs. The competitions open to athletes were running, leaping, throwing the discus, wrestling, boxing and the pancratium, or combination of boxing and wrestling. Victory in this last was the highest achievement of an athlete, and was reserved only for men of extraordinary strength. ”

“ Hart eats chops, chopped eggs, toast, corn bread, tea and coffee.
TRAINING FOR BASEBALL.
It is well known that an athlete desirous of excelling in any special sport or game must be trained only to the extent to suit the requirements of the sport he desires to become an expert in. To train young men in a gymnasium alike for rowing, running or for field work in baseball, cricket or lacrosse, putting them through the same routine of exercises, is simply to unnecessarily overwork them for one particular sport, and to give them insufficient exercise for another. ”

“ The trainer is usually present, represented as a mature man, wearing a himation and carrying a forked rod. The flute-player in a long, spotted robe often accompanies the exercises or plays for the jumper.
FIG. 115. ATHLETE THROWING A JAVELIN
FIG. 116. WRESTLERS
The principal athletic contests were foot-races of various distances, including the torch-race, which corresponded to the modern relay race, broad jumping, throwing the diskos and the javelin, wrestling, and boxing. ”

“ Last night athletes from all over the world marched around the Olympic stadium there and stood and watched as a single torchbearer climbed the steps and lit the Olympic flame, marking the start of the games.
I'm sure that like me, you'll be proud of all of these young men and women, and particularly of our own American athletes. Our athletes are a remarkable group, not only for their achievements but for how they represent so much of what is good and beautiful and splendid about this sweet and promised land. ”

“ More than one of our most famous athletes originally took to athletics for his health; and, on the other hand, be it remembered always that the sports which prove most bene- ficial bodily to a man are those which interest and amuse him. If he belongs to a rowing club or baseball nine, the eagerness and excitement of a contest with a rival association spur him on to keep his body in good condition ”

“ The main principle which he inculcates is the necessity of a thorough knowledge of the human body, and of suiting the training to the individual’s requirements. He discusses at length the various physical qualities which are best for different sports,—the qualities of the boxer, the wrestler, or the runner,—and gives a fanciful classification of the different types of athletes, the lion type, the eagle type, the bear type, the plank type, the rope type! ”

“ There is a greater appreciation of athletic sports among Americans than among people of any other nationality.
We have had definite proof of this in the correspondence occasioned by our publication of the adventures of Frank and Dick Merriwell. These two boys are active athletes. They are proficient in every line of sport, and they play fair or not at all. ”

“ Two thirds of the athletes participated freely in general athletics when not in training for track—in football, baseball, basketball, tennis, hockey, gymnastics, etc., and were practically engaged in vigorous exercise for a period of five and a half years. Their statistics do not show appreciable variation from those of the one third who engaged in running only. ”

“ Each chapter of this book treats of a different event of track and field athletics, and is illustrated by instantaneous photographs of the leading athletes of America. These pictures show the detail of the work for each event, and the text gives instruction and advice which will prove most valuable not only to athletes who cannot avail themselves of the services of a trainer, but to more experienced performers as well. ”

“ His is the strength of the athlete who has become what he is by years of careful training, protracted conflicts, and painful discipline, and in all his words, and they are many, you can hear as it were p. ”

“ One of the athletes was so conspicuously superior to the rest in skill and prowess, that at length no one would respond to his repeated challenges to try a fall. Assuming the honours of championship, he was on the point of quitting the arena when a slim-built, but well-proportioned, young man suddenly stepped forward as a competitor. ”

“ In old times, rowing used to be the penalty to which galley-slaves were condemned, but now it is commended by athletes as the best of all forms of exercise for developing the body and for furnishing stimulating competition. ”

“ Today it begins, and our athletes are ready. They will stand there, over the next few days; they'll poise themselves on the blocks, stand at the edge of the diving board, or stand with their toes on the line and wait for the shot to go—and they'll know they're not alone. ”

“ Countless athletes have written articles relative to physical training which they deem essential to championship form. Many of them have dealt with the subject in a scientific manner, some foisted pet theories on their readers, while others advocated practical methods. ”

“ I pass over the first as too simple to be emphasised—I mean that fashionable athletes do not run across ploughed fields or scratch their eyes out in bramble hedges. Nor do they run all doubled up like a crouching dog. ”

“ However 7 willing and thoughtful he may have been, these contretemps have almost invariably been the fate of all our leading athletes, not only in the pedestrian circle, but in the ring, on the water, and in all sports in which a great lead has ever been taken by man. ”

“ To the athlete all things are forgiven. ”

“ Here we have in condensed form a vast amount of valuable information upon a subject which should deeply interest everybody, the substance of numerous other foreign and domestic publications on like subjects mingling with impressions and advice born of the author’s observation and practical experience. A treatise on the muscular system, tables showing the correct measurements of noted athletes and proportions of a perfect human figure, with remarkable feats of strength, etc., are also given. ”

“ And then there's an awful silence in the crowd among the fellows who've bet their money against the man with the cow, and they sneak away kind of quietly, and here and there you'll hear one of them murmur to himself, 'Stung!' And that's professional athletics for you. ”

“ Blessed with a strong, symmetrical frame, a quick eye, a sure hand, a perfect constitution, and abundant courage, he came easily by a mastery of the different sports he entered into, and had few equals, and fewer superiors, at cricket, football, lacrosse, baseball, swimming, rowing, and the other amusements of the day. ”

“ All through the livelong day on Saturdays, and in the afternoons during weekdays, boys in strange-looking running costumes of various designs could be seen diligently practicing at all manner of stunts, from sprinting, leaping hurdles, engaging in the high jump, with the aid of poles; throwing the hammer; and, in fact, every conceivable exercise that would be apt to come under the head of a genuine athletic tournament. ”

“ There is no finer sight among the long catalogue of athletic sports, more exhilarating and amusing to the true sportsman, than to see a walking-match carried out to the strict letter of the meaning, each moving with the grandest action of which the human frame is capable, at a pace which the feeble frame and mind is totally unable to comprehend, and must be witnessed to be believed. ”

“ Rowing, running, cross-country work, track athletics, lacrosse, handball, hockey and polo are all splendid and vigorous games, well calculated to develop the best type of physical stamina. For those possessing the requisite strength they can all be highly recommended, though as a rule it is best not to specialize in any one of them but to secure as much variety as possible. Specializing in athletics may win championships and may stimulate interest in sports, but for the average man or woman specialization is not desirable. ”

“ The Olympic beauty of this game is beyond all praise. It calls into active exercise every muscle of the human frame, and brings into bold relief the supple and athletic forms of the best built people in the world. ”