A new spin on the javelin
QUESTION In the late Fifties, a new method of throwing the javelin was proposed. Why was it not adopted? FELIX ErAuSquIN ( 1907- 1987), a Spanish athlete specialising in throwing events, was Spanish champion 19 times (a record) in the shot putt, discus and javelin in the Thirties.
he was also a champion in such traditional Basque sports as the Palanka jaurtiketa (metal bar throwing) in which the palankari (thrower) throws a palanka, a traditional mining tool weighing between 8kg and 25kg, as far as possible.
Various techniques were employed, most involving the palankari twisting around before launching the palanka rather like the hammer throw.
In 1956, Erausquin devised a new way for throwing the javelin, based on his Palanka jaurtiketa technique, and in the Montjuic Stadium, Barcelona, he hurled a javelin 83m, just under the then world record.
This new way of throwing was dubbed Erausquin or Spanish style, and it briefly revolutionised the discipline.
Many copied Erausquin’s new technique, most notably Miguel de la quadra-salcedo gayarre, nine times champion of Spain in the javelin, hammer and discus.
using Erausquin’s method, he reportedly threw the javelin 112m. (The current world record, set by uwe hohn at the 1984 olympics, is only 104.8m.) however, the throw was never acknowledged by the International Association of Athletics Federations, which banned the method on safety grounds.
The Spanish had planned to use the new technique at the 1956 Melbourne olympics but they boycotted the event in protest at the Soviet union’s participation after it invaded hungary. quadra- salcedo participated in the discus at the 1960 rome olympics, but didn’t progress following a series of foul throws.
Paul McClay, Bedford. WhEN I was a grammar school pupil at Wath-upon-Dearne, near rotherham, in the Fifties, our PE teacher was Peter Cullen, a prominent athlete with rotherham harriers.
one of his favourite sports was javelin throwing, and he was often seen on the school playing fields using the marker lines of the rugby field as fault lines for practising his technique.
We often watched him and were surprised one day to see him start to practise a new method: he would hold the javelin in one hand and begin to spin round in the same way as a discus thrower. After a few spins, he released the javelin, hopefully in the right direction — but not always, so the spectators gave him a wide berth.
Mr Cullen didn’t, however, persevere with this new technique. he was eventually chosen to represent great Britain in the 1956 olympics in Melbourne using the original technique, but he failed to qualify for the final. he died in 2010. Eddie ives, Doncaster.
QUESTION Who was the politician who described charity as ‘a sad and seedy competition for public pity’? IN 2014, Dr Frank Prochaska, an historian and a member of Somerville College, oxford, delivered a lecture entitled ‘The State of Charity’ to the Annual general Meeting of the Charity Commission.
he cited how the Victorian belief in democracy was exemplified in the prac- tice of philanthropy, whereas many who advocated a more statist approach despised philanthropy for its reflection of unequal class structures and the existing power relationships between the classes. he quoted gordon Brown, who described philanthropy in a 1988 article for The Times as ‘ a sad and seedy competition for public pity’.
As Chancellor and later Prime Minister, however, gordon Brown felt that one way in which to invigorate his political agenda was by further co- opting and financing charities. government funding escalated substantially during the Blair-Brown era, leading Dr Prochaska to complain: ‘ The government, not the voluntary citizen, has become the presiding judge of what constitutes charity or public benefit.’
Julian Chapel, great yarmouth, norfolk.
QUESTION Soldiers who respect their leader usually give them an affectionate nickname. Thus Wellington was Old Nosey and Napoleon Le Petit Caporal. What other examples are there? FurThEr to the earlier answer, American World War II general Joseph Stilwell was an uncompromising soldier whose caustic personality earned him the nickname ‘Vinegar Joe’.
Colonel richard geoffrey Pine-Coffin of the British Parachute regiment probably did not require a nickname, but was known as ‘Wooden Box’.
Major- general James Malcolm Leslie renton lost an arm at the Battle of Sidi Saleh in 1941 and was known thereafter as ‘Wingy’. Major general orde Wingate, of Chindits fame, earned the nickname ‘otter’ for his ability to find river crossings during fox hunts, a skill that came in useful in the Burma campaign.
S. W. Jansen, Brydekirk, Dumfriesshire.