Games Usually Produce One Phenomenal Athlete

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28130, 20 November 1956, Page 13

Games Usually Produce One Phenomenal Athlete

[By

KOGER BANNISTER

tn the ''Sunday Times” I

LONDON TTNLIKE the Olympic Games, many popular occasions, even Royal ones, can be predicted almost in their entirety, though the postponment of the ceremony of Trooping the Colour was a little unfortunate for the lady gossip writer whose wealth of detail appeared in print before the event took place. Unhappily, I cannot drop an Olympic article in the post and set off carefree for Melbourne. I could safeij say new, of course, that 5000 athletes will be there and almost as many officials But what about those unexpected incidents? And as the mood of the Games, it is four years since I felt the tension generated as the athlete waits like a lighted fuse for the moment of his explosive activity. No. the Olvmpic Games are not a film for which the script can be written in advance Each inevitably brings a drama which no chronicler can destroy.

Uncertainty

Choosing Olympic victors beforehand is as difficult as picking Premium Bond winners without the help of an electronic machine. I suppose a time may come when Olympic results can be foretold with confidence. In the days of Lysenko that moment seemed a step nearer. I visualised a good crop of little Russian boys running their way to some sort of maturity with an eight-hour day on the treadmill. Their training and astonishing progress would be card-indexed to make the work easier.

Now that Darwin is back in fashion, it may seen that by the twentieth generation an Olympic runner will be bred with a second heart as a supercharger, and spikes sprouting from the soles of his feet. I have to confess that I do not expect to see this in my time, and I am glad that the outcome of Olympic races will remain a secret until after the event.

There is nothing new about this uncertainty. The ancient Games grew in part from the desire to predict the unpredictable. There was a primitive anxiety lest, with winter, the earth

(Reprinted by Arrangement)

Games Heroes

British Runners

might never come to life again. With the soil bare and food scarce, who could give an assurance that another year would bring a fresh harvest? The saviour of the harvest was the person with the magic of victory in him, the athlete born of Zeus, the sky god. A simple foot race was the way to choose this man. Later the search broadened for the man who embodied the Roman word

“virtus”—goodness or excellence Bronze statues, probably modelled from the victors, overlooked the stadium and were called “zanes.” the word derived from “Zeus." In this way the heroes of the ancient Games were almost deified.

These ancient uames grew until Pindar could describe them as ‘ the Flower of Festivals, excellent as water, bright as gold, brilliant as the noonday sun.” This was superlative extension to the world of art. poetry and sculpture, but the importance of the Games still lay in the search for a hero who embodied all this excellence.

It is perhaps surprising that the modern Olympic Games, in spite of a galaxy of events in 17 different sports, have still tended to produce a single outstanding athlete. Usually this hero has been a winner, but sometimes a runner has achieved more glory in defeat, as in the case of Dorando. in the Marathon of 1908

This more modern hero could often be picked in advance. In his heyday Paavo Nurmi seemed to have access to some magical source of running power denied to others. Jesse Owens was likewise outstanding, in 1936. while before the Games of 1952. Emil Zatopek had run the 10,000 metres a minute faster than his own Olympic record

Who will be the hero of the Games at Melbourne? Three months ago Sandor Iharos. the Hungarian Army captain, aged twenty-four, seemed to have the strongest claim. As holdei of the world records for 1500 and 10,000 metres, he seemed to be gifted with sufficient speed and stamina to dominate over his favourite distance, the 5000 metres. Runners, like singers, are weakest at the upper and lower ends of their register, but the weakest • t es of Iharos were world records

But these hopeful predictions have faded recently with the loss of his two world records, one to his fellow countryman, Istvan Rozsavolgyi. and the 10.000 metres to Vladimir Kutz, oi 1 ussia

All three British 5000 metres runners. Pirie, Chataway and Ibbotson. have defeated Iharos in different races, so that Britain would seem, for the first time for many years, to have a chance of providing an outstanding Olympic victor We many find the 5000 metres replacing the 1500 metres as the great race of the Olympics.

Today the Farmers* Union does not call for the heln of Olympic heroes to ensure the harvest, and we tend to be less kind to them. In the heat of victory we acclaim them, but thereafter take a morbid interest in finding feet of clay We are aware too soon of theii human quality, and are scarcely allowed to respect them. They pass too eash” from fame, and need protection from the limelight that exploits them.

But I hope there will remain time foi us to acknowledge and respect the hero of Melbourne This modern hero, not altogether shorn of magic will emerge a sympol of the Games We need him as a reminder that the body of a man has a glory as well as his intellect and, spirit.

Prospect For 1960 Games

An 18-year-old Australian schoolboy haS a very bright future in athletics, and should he improve even slightly in the next four years on the form he has shown this year, he could well be Australia's greatest sprint prospect for the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. The boy is Jim McGann, from St. Joseph’s College. Sydney. During a series of races, McGann, in a space of three hours ran 100 yards in 9.Bsec, 220 yards in 21.6sec.and made a long jump of 23ft 9Jin. His time for the 220 yards was one-fifth of a second better than that required by Australian selectors for the Olympics this year, and his jump was 3jin better than the standard. McGann is now producing jumps which could find him a place in Australia’s Olympic team this year, but the former- national champion John Treloar thinks McGann will be at his best by 1960 “McGann is the best schoolboy sprinter I have seen,” said Treloar. "He has only to continue to improve to become a world force in the 100 and 200 metres events in four years time. In my opinion, McGann’s recent efforts have been the greatest by a youngster we have ever seen in this country,” he said.

His recent performances for the long jump place him third in the list of outstanding long jumpers in Australia at the present time. In a school carnival recently, he jumped 24ft 6in. Australia’s number two jumper. Bill Bruce, has even announced that he would be agreeable to stand down from his place in the team to give McGann his chance if the selectors agreed McGann is also a sound Rugby union player and nas already received may offers to join Rugby League clubs when he leaves school this year.