SCENE AT OLYMPIAD.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 162, 10 July 1924, Page 5

SCENE AT OLYMPIAD.

WALKING JUDGES HISSED. DISQUALIFICATION OF LEADERS. THRILLING HURDLE RACE. (By Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright.) (Received 2.30 p.m.) PARIS, July 9. After his previous successes Carr en-1 tered the arena for the 200 metres most confident, in contrast to his earlier nervousness. He ran brilliant!}', and led the field 'for a hundred metres, but was outclassed, though he finished gallantly, I Abrahams beating him for third place by inches. In the final Hall, Norton and Abrahams followed the place winners. Austen was warned in the first lap of the 1000 metres walk by the French judge, who thought his gait doubtful. In the second lap the American judge ordered him off when Austen was lying second nnd going well. Austen broke down and wept in his dressing room. Ho informed the Australian Press Association that he had talked in races for fourteen years, and his gait had hitherto ! never been questioned. Austen was easily the best styled. The crowd was amazed at the disqualification, which was the first of several others. Uproar ensued, the crowd hooting and hissing for several minutes. The first semi-final of the 200 metres j at the Olymoiad resulted: Seholz (America) 1. Hill (America) 2, Abrahams (England) 3. Time, 21 4-ss. "Slip" I Carr (Australia) ran fourth, and did not qualify. Porritt was also eliminated. The second semi-final resulted: Paddock (America) 1, Liddell (Britain) 2, Norton (America) 3. Time; 21 4-ss. The final resulted: Seholz 1. Taddoek 2, Liddell 3. Time, 21 3-ss. The 110 metres hurdles final resulted: j Kinsey (America; 1, Atkinson (South Africa) 2, Pettcrsson (Sweden) 3. Time, j 15s. I Tlie judges were repeatedly hissed when following the competitors. A climax was reached when the Austrian Kuhnet was disqualified, when easilyleading the field, but the appeal com- ] mittee decided that he could compete in ; the next round, because he didn't under- j stand the English warning. The final of the 110 metres hurdles was thrilling. The American, Anderson, when leading, fell at the second to last hurdle. The African, Atkinson, showed [great pace, and closed on the leaders at eighty" metres, but struck a hurdle and lost a -v-ard. Even then he almost caught * the winner, the American, Kinsey, on the tape.— (Reuter.) | j Following the disqualifications in the walk, the first heat became a burlesque. | The winner, Goodwin (England) had a nerve-wracking experience, knowing that i one judge was following him and about jto order him off. One Frenchman stop- ! ped twice, thinking he had finished, but | j was allowed to continue. The desir--1 ability of excluding the walk from the Olympics will be discussed,by the International Athletic Federation. Public resentment was renewed when it was announced that the second heat of the j walk had to, bo postponed because the jury of judges disagreed on Jiuhnet's reinstatement.

The 1500 metres heat provided an ! interesting event. Loe (England) qualified, but Nurmi again astonished everyone by running in ordinary rubber tennis shoes and winning his heat in the easiest manner. Nurmi again consulted his j stopwatch, timing the conclusion of each lap. I Newman was completely outpaced, and | finished second from last. Boyd finished seventh in his heat. England won tlie i fifth heat of the 1500 metres. j The final of the 200 metres was also thrilling. Paddock led at 90 metres, where. Seholz drew equal. The flying Scotsman, Liddell, made a desperate effort, all I shooting the tape inches apart, Paddock hurling himself with a mighty leap, and, falling heavily, injuring his foot. Seholz got the judge's verdict by inches. Abrahams lost several feet at the start, and I finished last, but he was below his 100 'metres form. J The 3000 metres steeplechase was an- j 'other triumph for Finland, Ritola winning by 50 metres, with his compatriots second and fifth. The points at the conclusion of the , I day were: America 135, Finland 73, BriI tain 34, New Zealand 4. I Strong objection was taken by the British Olympic Committee to tbe accommodation for athletes watching the match events, only 1500 seats being available for five thousand athletes, while half the navilion was unfilled. Bri- | tish athletes threatened to strike unless ' immediate improvement were made. The j French committee met, and decided that an extra stand be made available for the athletes to-morrow. j Abrahams, interviewed, says that the strenuous racing and mental strain, particularly when forced to wait for an hour for the start of the race, was affecting him. Austen, interviewed after he returned from his hotel, said he asked the American judge why he was disqualified. Tho judge said: "You were off th" then walked away. Austen states tha.t he is confident he was walking 1 correctly, as the pace was slow. His companions (Point out that if the Austrian were allowed to rewa!k because he misunderstood the v/nrnincjs, Austen was also entitled to rewalk.— (A. and N.Z.) SOME BRIGHT FINISHES. PARIS, July !1. In the 200 metres Carr and Porritt (New Zealand) won their heats. Carr slowed down. He ran the distance ir. 22 3-ss. Porritt was l-5s faster. Norman (Australia) ran second. Carr and Porritt both won their semi-finals. 1 Porritt's time was 225. He beat the French champion, Mourlon. Carr's win in the semi-final was again a most dashing performance. He boat Liddell, the British ex-champion, after easing down, in 21 4-ss, which equalled the day's best. The novelty of the day was the appearance of the great Nurmi in the 5000 metres race. Ho amazed the crowd when the pistol was fired by clicking a stopwatch which he carried in his hand. Ho dropped back second to last and kept .looking at the watch merely playing I with the field. He cleared out in the ilast 200 metres and won easily. j # Two American nesrroes filled first and 'second places in the long iump. The winner, Hubbard, covered 24Jft. England had another convincing win i in the 800 metres race, Lowe defeating , Martin (America) and Enck (Switzeri land) in lm 52 2-ss. The putting the weight event was won by Howser (America) with a putt of 14 : metres 991 centimetres. Hartramffc and Hills (America) were second and third I respectively.