NO one else among the Canadian schoolboys, attracted half the attention directed to Sammy Richardson who, at the age of fifteen, had won the broad jump at the Empire Games with a leap of 23ft. 8in. Dressed, he looks no more than a boy well grown for his age. Stripped, his magnificent build drew gasps of admiration from the crowd. He is the negro in excelsis in build, beautifully proportioned, loosely coupled, and muscling that is an artist's delight.

There are all the makings of another world's champion in this boy, another cause for wonder what it is in the build of the negro that makes him in two branches of track and field, stand out as the Finns do in long distance track running.

There has never been an outstanding negro distance runner. Very occasionally there has been a fine half-miler—the Canadian crack Phil Edwards being the best of all—and almost as rarely the negroes have produced a quarter-miler. But in sprinting they have produced some of the fastest runners the world has seen. Howard Drew, away back in 1912, would have won the 100 metres at Stockholm but for breaking down. Two years ago, at Los Angeles, Tolan and Metcalfe were first and second in the hundred and first and third in the 200 metres. Since then Metcalfe has gone from victory to victory, and Tolan is now in Australia to contest the world's professional championship. England, too, has had her great negro sprinters, H. F. V. Edward and J. E. London (both West Indians). Edward had a remarkable record in the English championships, winning the hundred and furlong three years in succession (1920–22), and in the last year won the quarter as well. In New Zealand, a negro, H. Martis, was Dominion sprint champion in 1914, and one of the best professionals I have seen here was C. J. Morris. Beautifully proportioned and modelled, with a very fine action, Morris was formerly a jockey—like George Smith, the famous All Black of 1905.

In field events the strength and limitations of the negro are just as marked. Not only is his success limited to jumping, but (apart from a very occasional high jumper, falling short of the highest class), in that field he is a broad jumper pure and simple.

Returned men who saw the Inter-Allied Games at Paris in 1919, will vividly remember the magnificently built Sol Butler, who won with a jump of 24ft. 9in. The first man to reach 25 feet was E. Gourdin, the Harvard negro. Contemporary with him was an even greater black, De Hart Hubbard, who was first, with Gourdin second, at Paris in 1924. Two years ago, at Los Angeles, the Olympic winner was another negro, E. L. Gordon. The first to jump 26ft. was yet another negro, Cator (of Haiti). For the moment, the world's record (26ft. 2 1/in.) is held by a Jap, Chuhei Nambu (who also holds the hop, step and jump record of 51ft. 7in.), but by and large the negroes are in a class by themselves.

What is it that makes the negro such a wonderful broad jumper? Nobody has explained that yet in a satisfactory manner, but there is a noticeable difference in the feet of negroes that must have something to do with it. Long and seemingly (but only seemingly) flat, with the heel held by an Achillis tendon that from the very walk of the race seems more tightly stretched than in the white man, the negro undoubtedly gets a tremendous kick off from the board. This, with his sprinting speed (and that is of more help in broad jumping than in any other field event) has made him the freak he is. Young Richardson gave us a sample of the kick off. The slap of his heel on the board could be heard all over the ground.

The strange part of it all is that this tremendous power in the heel is of such a specialised kind. The heel, of course, gives all the spring in all kinds of jumping, and yet for all his tremendous springiness of heel the negro has never made his name in high jumping, pole vaulting, or the hop, step and jump.