Higher & Farther

It was the finest exhibition of jumping, both horizontal and vertical, ever seen on an indoor track. First, Olympic Champion Don Bragg, in top form, vaulted 15 ft. 7 in., barely missed becoming the first man in history to clear 16 ft.--when his hand brushed the crossbar on the way down. Then gaunt, sinewy Ralph Boston, legs wildly pumping, leaped 26 ft. 1 3/4 in. to better his own world indoor broad jump record by an astonishing 3 3/4 in.

Still to come was the most dramatic track and field confrontation since Australia's John Landy and Britain's Roger Bannister met at Vancouver seven years ago for the "Mile of the Century." The opponents: High Jumpers John Thomas of the U.S. and Valery Brumel of the U.S.S.R.

Bad Habit. For John Thomas, a 19-year-old Boston University junior and world record holder in the high jump (at 7 ft. 3 3/4 in.), last week's New York Athletic Club meet in Madison Square Garden was a chance for self-vindication and revenge. Undefeated in two years, Thomas went to last summer's Olympics in Rome a supposedly sure gold medal winner. But without his regular coach, Ed Flanagan, to watch him, Thomas unwittingly changed his jumping style in pre-Olympic workouts, slipped into the bad habit of dropping his trailing leg as he rolled across the bar. The result was disastrous: unable to clear 7 ft. 1 in. in three tries, Thomas wound up ignominiously in third place behind Russia's Robert Shavlakadze and Brumel, neither of whom had ever topped 7 ft. before.

During the indoor season, Shavlakadze withdrew from active competition. Not Brumel. A dark-haired, 6 ft. 1 in. Ukrainian, Brumel laughed at the long-popular theory that a high jumper can go no more than one foot above his own head, last month leaped 7 ft. 4 1/2 in. in Leningrad to set an unofficial world indoor record, top Thomas' indoor best by 1 1/2 in. In the buildup for last week's contest, Boston U.'s public relations chief quoted Thomas as saying of Brumel's jump: "I want to see it before I'll believe it."

Private Duel. Last week, doubting John Thomas got his look. Staring moodily at the crossbar, Thomas rested quietly on a chair between jumps. Brumel wandered about the Garden infield, changing shoes repeatedly, warming up with graceful, balletlike leaps. By the time the bar reached 7 ft., all other competitors had dropped out, and the private duel began.

It was short-lived. At 7 ft. 2 in., Brumel went over on his first jump. Three times Thomas leaped, and three times he carried the bar with him into the sawdust-filled pit. Still not finished, Brumel asked officials to raise the bar to 7 ft. 3 in.--and cleared it by a full 4 in., tying Thomas' world indoor record. Hurrying now, he made three quick attempts at 7 ft. 5 in., missed them, all narrowly. But Russia's Brumel had shown more than enough for a still-improving 18-year-old. Another day, another record.

Overshadowed by the jumping, running nonetheless provided its share of excitement at the N.Y.A.C. meet:

P: Unperturbed when an overanxious opponent jumped the gun in the women's 60-yd. dash, willowy Wilma Rudolph exploded perfectly from the starting blocks, streaked to a new world indoor record (her second in four weeks) of 6.8 sec.

P: A bronze medal winner at Rome, Detroit Schoolteacher Hayes Jones survived a near fall in his first heat, went on to tie the meet record of 7.1 sec. in the 60-yd. high hurdles, preserved an undefeated indoor record that stretches back two seasons.

P: The slow early pace (time for the half: 2 min. 5.1 sec.) killed any chance for a world record, but sallow-cheeked Istvan Rozsavolgyi of Hungary, undefeated in five straight U.S. indoor meets, spurted to a 20-yd. lead on the last lap, won the mile in a fast 4 min. 4 sec.

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