Wonderful Whale

Early birds at the New York Athletic Club games in Manhattan's Madison Square Garden last week knew just the man to watch. Down there among the "whales" whirling in their 7-ft. circle and heaving the 16-lb., leather-covered shot, Air Force Lieutenant Parry O'Brien showed a style all his own. The hefty (6 ft. 3 in., 235 Ibs.) Californian turned his back to the toeboard, spun completely around before he put the shot with explosive energy. The results were astonishing: 57 ft. 11 3/4 in. (good enough to win right from the start), then 59 ft. 4 1/2 in. After a momentary lapse with 58 ft. 8 1/4 in., everything clicked: O'Brien put the shot 59 ft. 9 in., setting a new world's indoor record and giving fair warning of what to expect next fall in Australia.

Only after Parry finished did the track-wise crowd get a chance to settle down. The games expanded into the organized confusion of all indoor track meets. The pole vault had started, but no one would bother watching until the bar passed 14 feet. Tobacco smoke gathered over the tight oval of the banked-board track while sweat-suited runners in their warmups jogged endlessly toward nowhere. Hurdlers twisted into weird calisthenics all over the infield. Here and there some exhibitionist dropped into a handstand, presumably to loosen his legs. Hordes of officials in boiled shirts hardly had room to get out of their own way.

Now and then, long-legged runners, stripped to their skivvies, lined up across the boards. The starter's gun cracked. Flying spikes and wide-swung elbows jammed up on the turns. But even before the winners' times were announced, the warmup boys were back on the track like late starters in the race just finished.

Sections of the track were periodically removed so that dashmen and hurdlers would have a clear lane to their finish line. High jumpers rolled over the bar. Seconds after they started, handicap relays were too confused for the casual fan; runners were spread out over the track. And through it all, pole vaulters kept on jumping, and a proud, tux-togged official rode high in the basket of a finger lift to replace the bar when someone missed.

Happily, long years of practice have made the dedicated track fan proof against the distracting discord on the floor. Somehow he can spot his favorite in the welter of colored sweat suits. Last week Parry O'Brien was not the only record breaker he had to watch.

P: Villanova's unbeaten junior, Charley Jenkins, sprinted to a world's indoor record for the 500-yd. run (56.4 sec.).

P: North Carolina College's crack hurdler, Lee Calhoun, matched the indoor 60-yd. high-hurdle mark with 7.1 sec.

P: Bob Barksdale, Morgan State high jumper, cleared the bar at 6 ft. 9 in. to break a 22-year-old meet record.

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