Fastest

Only a sprinkling of the 17,000 ardent track fans who last week filled Manhattan's Madison Square Garden and overflowed three deep around the rim were surprised when Kansan Glenn Cunningham, now running for the New York Curb Exchange and mightier than ever at 28, won the Wanamaker Mile for the fifth time in six years. But they were all quite unprepared for what they witnessed in the running of the 60-yd. dash.

The world indoor record (on boards) for 60 yards has stood at 6.2 seconds for 15 years. Famed sprinters like Jesse Owens, Eddie Tolan, Ralph Metcalfe have tried but failed to break it. But last week astonished spectators saw Benjamin Washington Johnson of Columbia, a little Negro who is long on medals but short on publicity, register three lightning flashes: the first heat in 6.2 sec., the semi-final in 6.1, the final in 6 seconds flat. To little Ben Johnson went the Rodman Wanamaker Trophy for the outstanding performance of the meet (Millrose Games) and round-the-world acclaim as the world's fastest human.

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