Another point to the argument over if athletes are getting better

I'm sure janitor posted a video of a modern day sprinter using the spikes that Jesse Owen would have been using and a similar type of track that he would been running on. Think he clocked in just under 11 seconds.

 

A couple of observations.

Running was a huge sport in the 19th century, in every distance from sprint, to what we today call ultra marathons.

There are some very impressive records claimed, over all distances for that period, but the proof is not great in some cases.

The Amateur Athletics Rules had a very profound effect, and not for the better.

If you took any money for a sport. you were barred from all athletics events.

If a man took one professional boxing match to pay a bill, then he could no longer participate in athletic events!

This basically skewed the sport in favor of people with private means, and eliminated a lot of the talent pool!

Most of the best talent was going to waste.

 

But not in boxing. Boxing was prize fighting. And like you said not in ultra marathons. I've seen records of guys like George Littlewood speed walking 623 miles in six day races. The record stood for 96 years until it was beaten by an Australian named Yiannis Kouros. Where ultramarathon runners are concerned I think there was a lot of gambling that funded the sport, like Around the World in 80 Days. A guy would claim he could run across France or across Europe in X days, put up some money with the help of backers and would take bets for and against him. Mensen Ernst ran from Paris to Moscow averaging 120 miles a day for fourteen days. Also, horse racing was professional too. Isaac Murphy and Fred Archer won hundreds of horse races.

 

I think boxing is different. I think it has gone down because in boxing there was no set organization which made it required to fight everyone, which then leads to a great fighter standing at the end since he had to survive the system of a great boxing era. And this only happened with great amateur fighters moving up ,and even if guys were not great amatuers, they learned from those guys having to fight them. Many other sports they improve by seeing the levels of one era and then upping the level. But Mikey Garcia winning 4 titles this early, when Hearns and Duran and guys like that won 4 at the end of their careers pretty much ( or the end of their prime careers) is an indications boxing is watered down with organizations and fighters who should not be holding titles.

 

Great article that illuminates an inherent bias against our predecessors when it comes to athletics.

Another great example is to just watch Pele highlights.
A man who did every skill and trick modern players use, without the benefit of highlights and endless film catalogues.

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I think the individual is more important than the tools available to him/her.