> From: "P.F.Talbot" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: "P.F.Talbot" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Fri, 8 Nov 2002 13:04:46 -0800 > To: "\"Athletics\"" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: RE: t-and-f: Track rules (was: banned high jump technique) > > I believe that there were many 500m tracks in continental Europe in the > early 20th century. > > However, modern track and field was essentially a British sport (and one > that was developed to suit the needs of England's gambling-mad upper > classes) and so their 1/4 mile track became the "standard" with the > compromise in Europe of the 400m track which eventually those on the > Imperial system adjusted to. But we could very easily have had 500m tracks > and thus a whole different last 100 years of track.>
I don't know about "many" 500m tracks. One thing you've got to consider is the size of the stadium that has to go around a 500m track and how many people it would seat. At the turn of that century, you weren't getting many crowds of that size. It's instructive to note the size of the Olympic tracks in the early going. 1896 Athens--333.3m (you can still run on this one; you wanna talk tight curves!) 1900 Paris--500m, laid out on a horse-racing track. 1904 St. Louis--c536m (1/3 of a mile), with a 220y straightaway! 1908 London--1/3 of a mile again, positioned inside a 660y banked concrete cycling oval and containing a giant swimming pool on the infield! 1912 Stockholm--383m 1916 Berlin--0m 1920 Antwerp--400m (at last!) 1924 Paris--500m 1928 Amsterdam--tracks standardized at 400 henceforth, but note that Harbig's legendary 1:46.6 in Milan in '39 was on a 500m job. Gh
