Cal Oval (100 yards) & Edwards Field (220 yards), Berkeley, CA, March 26, 1921
Paddock's leap over the finish line (100 yards WR 9.6, March 29, 1921) was featured in the of the 1922 Spalding Athletic Almanac. Photo: Smithsonian Libraries And Archives.
University Stadium, Redlands, CA, April 23, 1921
Paddock’s record-setting continued under the California sun in Redlands, where he again equaled the 100-yard world record with a time of 9.6 seconds. At the same time, timers also measured him at 100 meters, where he set a new world record of 10.4 seconds, reducing the previous world best by 0.2 seconds.
A man from Pasadena also scratched a second race in Redlands, only 20 minutes after the hundred-meter dash. He bolted down the straightaway for about 200 meters and continued from there on the curve to 330 yards. The timers were positioned at the 200-meter, 220-yard, 300-meter, and 330-yard posts. In track and field, the finish line is rarely located right after a curve.
Paddock’s 100-meter record of 10.4 seconds stood strong until Olympic champion Percy Williams finally surpassed it in the next decade.
Paddock's achievements sparked some skepticism within the U.S. One East Coast coach suggested that in California, race officials might let runners start too quickly after the “ready” command and overly eager timers could stop the clocks prematurely.
Another Olympic athlete, Charles Daggs from Pomona College, dominated the hurdles, winning the 220-yard hurdles and clocking 15.0 seconds in the 120-yard hurdles, placing third on the 1921 world list.
Word was gradually getting out about the future three-time Olympic gold medalist, Bud Houser. At these Southern Pacific AAU championships, the high schooler won both the shot put and discus, and caught the attention of reporters with his swift wind-up.
In late March, a traditional match took place in Berkeley, California, between the home team from the University of California and the University of Southern California from Los Angeles. Charley Paddock, representing the visiting team, sprinted the 100 yards in 9.6 seconds, tying the world record, equivalent to about 10.5 seconds over 100 meters. According to reports, a headwind blew during the race, but Paddock charged forward like a bull, undeterred. By the halfway mark, he had already gained a meter's lead over the others, and by the finish line, he had stretched it to two.
Paddock's celebration continued with the 220-yard dash on a straight track, where the Olympic champion set a world record with a time of 20.8 seconds, approximately equivalent to 21.2 seconds for the 200 meters on a curved track. At that time, only records set on a straight track were officially recognized for the 220 yards.
Opinions on the wind varied. The official race report stated there was no wind, while a local newspaper claimed Paddock and his competitors faced a stiff headwind. Meanwhile, the organizers reported to the press that a tailwind had blown and suspected the record might not be officially accepted. Yet, a century later, it remains recognized in the record books.
Charley Paddock was a 20-year-old sprinter who, partly due to his father's coercion, had practiced tennis, golf, and swimming since childhood to strengthen himself. The guy was only 1.75 (5-8¾) tall and weighed 80 kilograms—meaning, according to a Finnish sports journalist, "a clumsy-looking and somewhat corpulent bear cub of a hunk." The University of Southern California coach, Dean Cromwell, molded him into a champion, as the coach's nickname, "Maker of Champions," obliged.
Stanford Stadium, Stanford/Palo Alto, CA, March 29, 1921
Paddock's speed feats continued a few days after the Berkeley meet. This time, he represented his own university, the University of Southern California, in a match against Stanford University. The Olympic champion once again covered 100 yards in 9.6 seconds, matching his recent record. Stanford’s Morris Kirksey finished just 30 centimeters behind. Paddock remained undefeated against Kirksey (wins 25–0) who served as a professional psychologist in his later life.
The Pasadena sprinter also ran 220 yards on a straight track, finishing this time in 21.0 seconds.
Paddock Field, Pasadena, CA, USA, June 18, 1921
The standout name at the beginning of the 1921 season was Charley Paddock, the winner of the Antwerp 100 meters, who excelled on the Redlands University field under the California sun on April 23. The most significant record he then dashed was the 100 meters, clocked at 10.4. The former world record held by many runners was improved by 0.2 seconds. In the same race, Paddock recorded a time of 9.6 at the 100-yard mark (91.44 meters), equaling the world record for the imperial distance.
Paddock indulged in true madness a couple of months later in Pasadena, California, where he sprinted 110 yards (100.58 meters) in a suspicious time of 10.2. The American Amateur Athletic Union could not believe the result hammered out on the hard track in Pasadena. The union found an escape clause in the rulebook, stating that a performance in a longer distance cannot be accepted as a record for a shorter distance. Therefore, Americans did not need to send Paddock's astonishing result to the international association for ratification.
Paddock was not spared from injuries at the competitions held on his namesake track. He pulled his leg, which led the doctors to announce that Paddock would no longer reach his previous record level. The prognosis was perhaps accurate to some extent.
Paddock, a sturdy guy (175 cm – 5-6), had some peculiar habits. For instance, he imagined winning a few hundredths by leaping across the finish line. It is uncertain whether he gained any advantage from this. It's suspected that the purpose of the jump was to manipulate the timekeepers: a powerful movement before the finish line might make them stop the clocks slightly earlier.
Is Paddock's 10.2 possible? Yes and no. The tracks of the 1920s were poor, and starting blocks were not used, so it is unlikely that a result from that time would have stood as a world record until the 1950s. The result may be explained by Paddock competing in his hometown of Pasadena. He might have known the starters' habits and been able to anticipate the start slightly. It is also possible that the timekeepers were more experienced citizens who reacted to the pistol smoke a bit more slowly.
Observers have pointed out that Paddock covered the distance from 100 to 110 yards (9.14 meters) in 0.6 seconds according to the splits, which is impossible. Statistician Richard Hymans, on the other hand, notes in his Progression of World Athletics Records that in the 1920s, officials used clocks that measured time with a precision of one-fifth of a second. If Paddock's split time for 100 yards had been taken with a tenth of a second accuracy, it could well have been 9.5.
The world-leading result was broken in the pole vault in Pasadena. Richard Emmons, a 20-year-old from the University of Southern California, cleared the bar set at 3.97 (13-0). It was perhaps the best achievement of his short athletic career, excluding his fourth-place finish in the US Championships in 1922.
Profile of Charley Paddock (Obrey Brown)
Hymans, Richard, Progression of World Athletics Records
Quercetani, Roberto, A World History of Track And Field Athletics