ATHLETIC SPORTS. The usual sports of an athletic meet may be classified as those of the track and those of the field, the former being held in a circular track, or cinder path, enclosing the inner field where the latter sports are held. The track events consist of races, which are the sprints of 50 yards, 100 yards, 440 yards and the long-distance runs of one-half mile, 1 mile and 2 miles, and the hurdle races. The field events are the high jumps and the broad jumps, the pole vault, the shot put, the hammer throw and the discus throw. The hurdle races are usually two in number. one for 120 yards, over 10 hurdles, each 3 feet, 6 inches high; and the other of 220 yards, over 10 hurdles, each 2 feet, 6 inches high. In the race over high hurdles, the first is 15 yards from the starting line; each hurdle is 10 yards from its neighbor, and the tenth is 15 yards from the finishing line. In the low hurdle race, the hurdles are distributed at intervals of 20 yards throughout the course. A hurdle race requires great skill and endurance, as well as high speed. While the hurdler may run the first stretch and the last stretch as he pleases, he must, if he is to succeed at all, take always exactly the same number of steps between hurdles and jump over them in precisely the same way each time. The record for the low hurdles is about 23 3/5 seconds; for the high hurdles, about 15 1/2 seconds. In making a pole vault the athlete takes the pole, which is usually at least 16 feet long, and, measuring the height of the bar with his eye, takes hold of the pole at the proper height and goes back for his run. With the long pole extending forward, he runs down to the "take-off," and puts the iron-shod end of the pole into the ground and leaps upward, throwing his feet above his head and pushing his body up at arm's length till he is above the cross-bar. Then, with a quick motion, he throws the pole from him and himself over the bar. In each competition three trials are allowed at every height at which the bar is placed. The amateur record for pole vault is somewhere near 11 feet, 11 inches. The shot put consists in throwing or putting a 16-pound shot forward from the shoulder. It is not a throw exactly, but a push forward and upward. The competitor, who stands within a circle 7 feet in diameter, must not step outside in the course of his throw. The measurement is made from the circumference of the circle to the spot where the shot first broke ground. A 12-pound shot is the customary size in high school contests. The record for the 16-pound shot is about 49 1/2 feet; the high school record for the 12-pound shot is about 44 1/2 feet. Hammer throwing is made under conditions similar to those of the shot put. The hammer, with its handle, must not exceed 4 feet in length, nor its total weight exceed 16 pounds. The head of the hammer is usually a spherical shot, and the handle, a chain with a wooden or metal attachment for the hands. The contestant, standing within his 7-foot circle, swings the hammer around his head to gain momentum and then throws it with the force of his body. The record for the 16-pound hammer is about 172 feet. The discus throw is made from a 7-foot ring and is measured in the same way that the shot put and hammer throw are measured. The discus itself is of smooth, hard wood, weighted with lead in the center and capped with brass disks and a steel ring, and should not exceed 8 inches in diameter nor 2 inches in thickness at the center. Its weight is 4 1/2 pounds. The discus is taken in the fingers of the right hand with the flat side lying against the palm of the hand and wrist, and with a whirling motion and a long, full-arm swing the discus is thrown. The record for the discus throw is about 140 feet.