Sam Mussabini

Willie Applegarth and Sam Mussabini, 1912

Scipio Africanus "Sam" Mussabini , born as Scipio Arnaud Godolphin Mussabini , (born August 6, 1867 in Blackheath ; † March 12, 1927 ) was a British trainer and journalist. Athletes he mentors won a total of eleven medals at the Olympic Games, including five gold medals.

biography

Sam Mussabini was born the fourth of six children. His father, Neocles Gaspar Mussabini, was of Syrian-Italian descent; his great-grandfather came from Damascus and had moved to Trieste to do business there. His mother was French from the Grenoble area . He received his school education in France , became a journalist like his father and wrote articles for sports newspapers; his specialty was billiards . He himself was active as a pool and cricket player. He changed his original name Scipio Arnaud Godolphin Mussabini to Scipio Africanus Mussabini , from whose initials the nickname Sam was finally derived.

In 1894, Mussabini became the supervisor of the Dunlop cycling team that trained on the newly built Herne Hill cycling track . There he also prepared the cyclist Bert Harris for the national championships, who in 1894 was the first British champion of the professionals over the mile. In the early 1900s he began training athletes ; his first protégé was the South African sprinter Reggie Walker , who won the gold medal over 100 meters at the Olympic Games in London in 1908 . In 1913 he became the trainer of the Polytechnic Harriers , who trained inside the cycling track. However , he was treated with skepticism by the Amateur Athletic Association because he was a professional coach. He looked after the athletes Albert Hill , Willie Applegarth , Harry Edward and Harold Abrahams . Applegarth won gold at the Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912 with the 4 x 100 meter relay , Hill 1920 at the Games in Antwerp gold over 800 and 1500 meters and Edward bronze over 100 meters . Four years later, won Abraham at the games in Paris gold in the 100 meters and silver in the 4 x 100-meter relay. From 1923 to 1924, Mussabini was a member of the British Olympic Commission and advocated good quality training for female athletes, including Vera Palmer , who set three world records over short distances. In 1928, a year after his death, runners previously supervised by him won medals at the Olympic Games in Amsterdam .

As a trainer, Mussabini relied on modern methods. So he introduced a new style of running by encouraging athletes to swing their arms while running, which became known as poly swing . He used a camera to analyze the athletes' running technique and insisted that they wear stopwatches to keep a steady pace. He not only planned the training but also, among other things, the nutrition of his athletes and placed great emphasis on strengthening their self-confidence. He never described himself as a trainer, but as a supervisor, the "man who comes along with a bag and a small sponge". In 1913 he was co-author of the book The Complete Athletic Trainer , in which he explained the previous mistakes of the Olympic training in Great Britain.

Sam Mussabini suffered from diabetes and died in 1927 at the age of 59.

Reception and honors

In 1998 the National Coaches' Federation introduced the Mussabini Medal , which is awarded annually to the best British coach. He was inducted into the National Coaching Foundation Hall of Fame in 1999 and the England Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011 .

Mussabini received a cinematic monument in the film The Victory's Hour over the life of Harold Abrahams, in which he was portrayed by the actor Ian Holm . The film was awarded an Oscar for " Best Picture " in 1982.

In 2012, a blue plaque was placed on the house at 84 Burbage Road in London, where Mussabini lived from 1911 to 1916 and which is located near the Herne Hill Velodrome. The plaque was unveiled by Olympian Terence Higgins and actor Ben Cross , who played Harold Abrahams in the hour of the winner . Chris Ballieu, chairman of the British coaching association, called Mussabini the "father of modern training", and Sebastian Coe , sports official and Olympic champion, praised his achievements for British sport. The historian Susan Skedd emphasized that Mussabini was “generations ahead” with his methods.

In September 2012 the essay 'Play it Again Sam' was published. Mussabini and Wisdom: A Biographical Conundrum , in which it is doubted whether Mussabini actually looked after all the runners mentioned. There was some mix-up with another coach, Sam Wisdom. In part, the film Die Hour des Sieger created myths that have not yet been proven beyond doubt by historical facts. However, in his book Running with Fire: The True Story of Chariots of Fire Hero Harold Abrahams, Mark Ryan takes the view that by Sam Wisdom Mussabini is meant.

Publications

• With WH Robbins as editor: Billiards . 1897
• Billiards expounded to all degrees of amateur players by JP Mannock . London 1904, volume 1
• Billiards expounded to all degrees of amateur players . London 1908
• With Charles Ranson: The Complete Athletic Trainer . London 1913, digitized
• A Billiard Player in the Making . London 1920
• Track & Field Athletics. A book on how to train etc. London 1924
• Running, walking and jumping . London 1926

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Scipio Africanus 'Sam' Mussabini. Retrieved December 7, 2014 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Mark Ryan: Running with Fire: The True Story of Chariots of Fire Hero Harold Abrahams. May 2011, p. O. S. , accessed on December 7, 2014 (English). 
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} English Heritage plaque for Scipio Africanus Mussabini. English Heritage, July 11, 2012, accessed December 7, 2014 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Dave Day / Deborah Pitchford: 'Play it Again Sam'. Mussabini and Wisdom: A Biographical Conundrum. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 9, 2014 ; accessed on December 7, 2014 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ John Bryant: 3: 59.4: The Quest to Break the Four Minute Mile. 2005, p. 52 , accessed December 7, 2014 . 
6. ^ Hall of Fame inductees. England Athletics, accessed December 7, 2014 . 
7. ↑ Sam Mussabini's Blue Plaque is unveiled. Dulwich on view, August 7, 2012, accessed December 7, 2014 .