Well, all I know is that I had never heard of throwouts in the 1940's, and 1950's and early 1960's. Rick thinks maybe throwouts started being used in the late 1960's.

Did they start being used at the grass roots level, to keep people from being demoralized when they had a bad race or a breakdown? And did the concept work its way up to the top level (Olympics)?

OR did it start at the top and work its way down?

WHEN AND WHY AND HOW did the idea start? There must be a historian somewhere who keeps track of these things. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />