No Argument

As Don Gehrmann and Fred Wilt raced into the final lap of the Bankers' Mile in Chicago Stadium one night last week, a double team of judges including the great Jesse Owens carefully watched the finish tape. There was to be no repetition or the row over the famed Wanamaker Mile in Manhattan seven weeks ago, when the judges disagreed over the winner and blocked the view of the photo-finish camera that might have settled the matter.*But as it turned out, any extra precautions were unnecessary.

At the starter's gun, Don Gehrmann had grabbed the lead, set the pace for a slow 64-second quarter. Villanova's John Joe Barry had taken over the pace-setter's role for the next five laps; then it was FBI Man Wilt's turn. For the next ai laps Special Agent Wilt ran his own race, with Gehrmann at his heels. Eighty yards from home, Gehrmann moved into high gear, passed Wilt, won by eight yards.

The time was 4:09.5, a shade slower than the 4:09.3 at which both men had been clocked in the Wanamaker. But Gehrmann was content; he was thinking about those eight yards of air between him and Fred Wilt. Said he: "I guess they can't argue about that one."

*The hassle over the Wanamaker is still going on. Gehrmann, first judged the winner, has appealed the later decision to give the prize to Wilt.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.