Tape
The line held across the track at the winning post, which competitors must touch. It is now general to fasten a thread from side to side, which is broken by the leader. Frequently called the "Worsted."
Waiting. Running behind another man, allowing him to make the pace, and reserving the energies for the finish.
RULES FOR ALL COMPETITIONS UNDER A.A.A. LAW.
Qualification of Competitors. 1. Every competition under these Rules shall be confined to amateurs, as defined by the Association, and no one shall be entitled or allowed to compete unless he is an amateur according to the definition adopted by the Association, namely :- "An Amateur is one who has never competed for a money prize or monetary consideration, or for any declared wager or staked bet; who has never engaged in, assisted in, or taught any athletic exercise as a means of pecuniary gain; and who has never taken part in any competition with anyone who is not an amateur."
To this definition the only exceptions allowed are as follows:- (a) That Amateur athletes shall not lose their amateur status by competing with or against professionals in Cricket matches or in ordinary Club Football matches for which no prizes are given, or in Cup Competitions permitted by the National Football Associations or National Rugby Unions of England, Ireland, Scotland, or Wales, providing that such competitions or matches form no part of, nor have connection with any Athletic Meeting. (b) That Competitions-at-arms between Volunteers and Regulars shall not be considered as coming within the scope of the A.A.A. Laws. (c) That Competitors in Officers' Races at Naval and Military Athletic Meetings (such races being for officers only, and for which money prizes are not given) shall be exempt from the laws of the A.A.A. disqualifying runners for competing at mixed meetings. (d) That the "Championship of the Army" Races be exempt from the effect of this Rule. (e) That a paid handicapper is not ipso facto a professional. (f) That those Sailors and Soldiers of His Majesty's Forces (including the Territorial Army), who do not individually accept money prizes, be exempt from the loss of their amateur status by reason of competing in Naval and Military Competitions confined to Sailors and Soldiers. 2. No one shall be eligible or allowed to compete in any competition under these Rules while his amateur qualification or his right to compete is suspended, by, or on behalf of, or under any MARTIN SHERIDAN, WINNER OF THE DISCUS (GREEK STYLE), OLYMPIC GAMES, 1908. rule or bye-law of the Association, or any of the following bodies, namely: (a) Northern Counties Athletic Association; (b) Midland Counties A.A.A.; (c) Southern Committee of the A.A.A.; (d) National Cyclists' Union; (e) Amateur Swimming Association; (f) Amateur Gymnastic Association; (g) Amateur Boxing Association; (h) National Amateur Wrestling Association; (i) Scottish A.A.A.; (j) Irish A.A.A.
No one who has at any time since the 31st day of March, 1885, competed in the United Kingdom in any athletic competition, which was not held by a club or society affiliated to or registered by the Association, or by the Scottish A.A.A. or the Irish A.A.A., or held by a club affiliated to the N.C.U., shall be eligible to compete in any competition held under these Rules, unless previous to the date of the competition in which he proposes to take part, his disqualifica- I2 tion shall have been removed by some duly authorised body. That after the first year, every competitor in open races under A.A.A. Laws must be a member of an affiliated club, or of a club which is a member of an affiliated Association or kindred body recognised by the A.A.A. Competitors in local, closed, or Scholars' and Veterans' events to be exempt. 3. When a competitor is a member of two or more clubs, the club which can show the longest unbroken period of his present membership has first-claim upon his services. In any Inter-Club contest under A.A.A. Rules, each competitor must have been a first-claim member of the club he represents at least three months prior to the race; and in the event of his residing more than twenty miles from the headquarters of his club, he must have been a first-claim member for one year immediately prior to the race. First-claim membership of School, College, University, Business House, purely Walking, or any non-pedestrian club, shall not debar a man from competing for his second-claim club under this rule, except when his first-claim club is competing in the race.
An unattached competitor on joining a club for the first time may compete for that club immediately. 4. In Inter-Club contests ineligibility of an individual competitor shall not disqualify his club, but the competition shall be decided as if the ineligible competitor had not been entered or taken part therein. 5. That in Team and Relay Races, no one shall be allowed to compete whose name does not appear in the Programme for that event, either as a member of the team, or one of the reserves of that team.
That in all Relay Races, there shall be allowed one reserve man for each section of the race.
That in all Team Races, each club shall be allowed to enter twice the number entitled to score. 6. A competitor in athletic competitions (other than A.A.A. Championships or bona fide International, Inter-Club, Inter-Team, Inter-College, or Inter-School contests), who asks for or receives hotel, travelling, or other expenses ceases to be an amateur, and no Club, Society, or Managing Body promoting any athletic competition shall, either directly or indirectly, pay or offer a monetary consideration to, or the hotel, travelling, or other expenses of any competitor in such competition. Clubs may only pay the expenses of their first-claim members in contests under this rule.
Clubs, Colleges, or Schools shall be answerable for any payments made by them, and if called upon to do so shall produce full details of the same and accounts to the A.A.A. (North, South, or Midlands) Committee. 7. Competitions for Boys, other than competitions for members of a particular club or society, or their sons, shall be confined to boys under 15 years of age at the date of the competition, who have for three calendar months immediately preceding the same date, resided within a radius of three miles from the ground of competition; but this Rule is not to apply so as to exclude on the ground of non-residence any boy attending school and competing within a radius of 20 miles from Charing Cross, London. 8. A race advertised as a Novice Race, shall be confined to those who, at the time of competing, have never won a prize in a similar class of competition-i.e., winning a prize for walking would not disqualify for running or vice versa, [ATHLETICS but winning a prize for running any distance would disqualify for running, and no race shall be promoted as a novice race unless it complies with this Rule.
Prizes. 9. No cheque on a tradesman or similar value prize shall be offered or taken as a prize in any competition, and in no case shall an alternative of money or prize be offered or taken. 10. No prize shall be offered in a handicap of greater value than £10 IOS. (This is limited to £5 5s. in the Southern District.) II. When the value of a prize is advertised, the exact amount paid after deducting any discount allowed, shall be considered the actual value of the prize. 12. Every prize which is offered for competition at an athletic meeting shall be publicly presented on the ground on the day of the meeting. 13. Every objection by a competitor to the value of a prize shall be made to the Secretary of the A.A.A. district within which the prize was won, and shall be accompanied by a deposit of 5s., which shall be forfeited to the District Association, if the objection is considered unreasonable. 14. Every prize offered for competition, and awarded to a successful competitor, shall be deemed and taken to be so offered and awarded subject to such competitor being eligible to compete, and to the statements made in his entry form being strictly accurate and complete, and the fact that a competitor has been awarded or received a prize, shall give him no claim to it, should it be subsequently shown that he was not eligible to compete, or that any of the statements made in his entry form were inaccurate or incomplete, and any competitor who shall have received a prize to which he was not entitled shall return it forthwith on being required to do SO.
Advertisements and Notices. 15. Every advertisement, prospectus, entry form or programme shall state that the meeting or competition is held "under the Laws of the Amateur Athletic Association," and every entry form shall have printed on it the definition of an amateur, adopted by the Association. 16. Every club or society affiliated to the Association shall state in their advertisements, prospectuses, and programmes that they are so affiliated, and every club, society, or managing body to which a permit has been granted shall so state that a permit has been granted, and shall exhibit the permit on the day of the meeting in a conspicuous place in the competitors' dressingroom. All Open Betting must be put down, and a notice prohibiting betting must be conspicuously exhibited at or near the entrance or entrances to all Sports Enclosures.
Programme. 17. Every programme shall have printed therein a copy of the rules regulating penalties, and also any scale of penalties for the time being in force. (See Scale, page 33.) Every programme shall state :- (a) The value of each prize offered for competition, if previously advertised. (b) The name of the person from whom each handicap event has been framed by the handicapper. (c) The name and club, or, if unattached, the place of residence, of each person whose entry has been accepted, and the handicap mark or time allowance (if any) of such person.
ATHLETICS] (d) The age in years and months of each boy entered in any competition for boys. (e) The date stated by the handicapper to be the date on which the handicaps were made. 18. As soon as possible after the day on which any competition is decided, a programme shall be marked by the Secretary so as to show the winner of every trial heat and the placings in every other round and final of the events decided under A.A.A. Laws, which shall be sent to the Secretary of the A.A.A. District within which the competition is decided; or such other official of the district as may from time to time be entitled to the custody thereof under the regulations of the district. 23. Every entry shall be made in the real name of the intending competitor, and this name shall appear on the programme. 24. Every entry shall be made to the Secretary or other authorised officer of the meeting or competition, and entries made to the handicapper shall be void. 25. No entry shall be tendered or accepted without the full amount of the stipulated entrance fees. 26. No entry from a Boy who will be under 15 years of age at the date of competition shall be tendered or accepted for any competition which is not confined to Boys or to members of the Club or Society promoting the meeting or competition. 45 G. V. LEMMING (SWEDEN), WINNER OF THE JAVELIN THROWING, OLYMPIC GAMES, 1908. 19. Every such programme shall be filed, and be open for inspection by amateur athletes at all reasonable times. 20. In all cases where Cycle Races are included in the programme of an athletic meeting, a similar programme as to Cycle events shall also be sent to the Secretary of the N.C.U. Local Centre of the district in which the meeting was held.
Entries. 21. Every Club, Society, and Managing Body promoting an athletic meeting or competition, shall have the right to refuse any entry or entries, without being bound to assign a reason for such refusal. 22. No entry shall be made or accepted unless a form of entry, authorised by the Association, be used. 27. Every entry for a handicap competition shall be dated and shall state fully and accurately such particulars as to the previous performances of the intending competitor as may from time to time be required by the official form of entry of the Association. 28. Every entry for a Boys' or Veterans' race shall state the date of birth, present age in years and months, of the intending competitor, and, as regards Boys' races, the number of prizes won by him; and every such entry shall, if required, be verified by the production of a birth certificate. 29. Every entry shall be signed by the intending competitor himself, and he shall be responsible for all statements therein and any omissions therefrom, whether he actually made the entry or not. 30. No one shall be entitled or allowed to be handicapped unless his entry form is filled up in accordance with the requirements of the Association, and anyone whose entry form is not so filled up shall forfeit any entrance fees paid by him.
Handicapper. 31. Except as herein provided, every handicap event which is not confined to the members of a particular Club, School, or College, or to Boys, or to the employees of a particular business firm, or company, shall be handicapped by one of the Official Handicappers of the Association.
Where, however, a handicap event is promoted in a rural and non-populous district, and confined to residents within a particular radius not exceeding ten miles, and in any case in which the event is confined to members of the Police Force of any particular city, town, or county division, or is promoted by a bona-fide Cross-Country Club or Association, and is held between November Ist and March 1st, the Association may, on special application, sanction the employment of handicappers who are not official handicappers of the Association.
STEEPLECHASING, OLYMPIC GAMES, 1908. 32. Every handicap event, which is not an event open to all amateurs, and whether it is required to be handicapped by an official handicapper or not, shall be framed from the best man in the competition, and he shall be placed on the scratch mark.
Time Standards shall be fixed for all open handicaps. 33. Every handicap shall be signed by the handicapper, and shall have stated on it the date on which it was made. 34. No one shall be entitled or allowed to compete in any competition unless his name is printed on the programme, nor in a handicap event unless the name and handicap mark or allowance are so recorded. 35. Every competitor must wear complete clothing from the shoulder to the knees (i.e., jersey [ATHLETICS sleeved to the elbows and loose drawers with slips), and in any event in which a water-jump is included the drawers and slips must be dark in colour. Any competitor will be excluded from taking part in the Sports unless properly attired.
A copy of this Rule shall be placed in a conspicuous place in the competitors' dressing-room at every Athletic Meeting. 36. No one liable to be penalised under Rule 50 shall be entitled or allowed to compete in any competition except from his penalty mark, and everyone so liable to be penalised shall, before taking part in a competition, notify one of the Judges or the Starter, in writing, of any penalty or penalties incurred by him, and of the mark off which he proposes to compete. 37. No person, other than the handicapper, shall at any time alter any handicap mark or allowance allotted by the handicapper, unless such alteration is required to give effect to any rule as to penalties or to correct a clerical or printer's error. 38. (a) No person shall be entitled or allowed to compete in any trial heat other than that in which his name is printed on the programme, and no made-up, late, or supplementary heat shall be permitted under any circumstances. (b) The winners of trial heats must compete in the finals unless the consent of the Judges to their abstention has been obtained, or they become liable to suspension. 39. (a) In handicap races, stations at the start shall be assigned to the competitors according to the order of their handicap starts, the competitor with the shortest start taking the first, or inside, station, the competitor with the next shortest start the second station, and so on. (b) In level races, the competitors shall ballot for their respective stations at the start, and each competitor shall take the station assigned to him by the ballot. (c) No competitor shall be entitled or allowed to compete in any competition except from the station assigned to him under the provisions of this Rule. 40. No attendant shall accompany any competitor on the mark or in the race, nor shall any competitor be allowed, without the permission of the Referee or Judges, to receive assistance or refreshment from anyone during the progress of a race. 41. All races (except time handicaps) shall be started by the report of a pistol, and a start shall only be made to the actual report. 42. All questions as to the starting of a race shall be in the absolute discretion of the Starter, whose decision shall be final. 43. The Starter shall place the competitors on their respective marks in their respective stations, and shall for this purpose have the assistance of such marksmen as may be necessary. 44. No competitor shall touch the ground in front of his mark with any part of his body. 45. (a) If after being placed on his mark any competitor shall overstep such mark before the pistol has been fired, the Starter shall in handicap events put him back one yard where the distance of the race does not exceed 220 yards; two yards where the distance exceeds 220 yards but does not exceed 440 yards; three yards where the distance exceeds 440 yards but does not exceed 880 yards; and five yards where the distance exceeds 880 yards. For a second offence in the same competition, the Starter shall impose a further similar penalty, and for a third offence shall disqualify the competitor and exclude him from the race. (b) In level races the before-mentioned penal- ATHLETICS] ties shall be imposed by the Starter at his discretion. 46. Any competitor wilfully jostling or running across or obstructing another competitor so as to impede his progress shall forfeit his right to be in the competition, and shall not be awarded any position or prize that he would otherwise have been entitled to. 47. No competitor shall be allowed to rejoin a race after leaving the track, either for the purpose of gaining a place, or to pace or assist another competitor. 48. (a) Every competitor shall be supplied with and wear during competition a distinctive number corresponding to his number in the programme. (b) In races not exceeding 300 yards duplicate numbers shall be provided and worn, one on the breast and the other on the back. provide sufficient and convenient accommodation for the competitors taking part therein, and shall take all such steps as may be necessary to reserve such accommodation for the exclusive use of competitors and a limited number of other persons to be authorised by the Secretary in writing, to attend on competitors. (b) Where a competition for boys is included in the programme of an athletic meeting, separate dressing accommodation shall always be provided and reserved for the boys taking part therein. 52. All open betting shall be suppressed.
Protests. 53. (a) Any protest or objection by a competitor against another competitor, or against another competitor's qualification to compete, shall be made to the Referee or Judges, when practic-