CHICAGO, IL — Two men who had "just a friendly argument" about the Olympics tried to settle it by racing down a hallway at their law firm, and one crashed through a 39th-floor window and fell to his death.

Hundreds of people watched in horror on the street outside the Prudential Building as Reginald Tucker, 29, a litigation lawyer with the firm of Schuyler, Roche, and Zwirner, plunged to the pavement.

"He was running down the hall and apparently lost his perspective."

"It was just a friendly argument," said James Allison, controller for the firm. "They were arguing about the Olympics. And, like silly people, they decided to settle it with a race."

Tucker, who had poor eyesight, sprinted directly into the full-length plate-glass window at the west end of the corridor Tuesday night, police said. He was not wearing his contact lenses at the time because of a scratched cornea.

"He was running down the hall and he apparently lost his perspective," said Michael B. Roche, one of the law firm's partners.