DANISH LADY ATHLETES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 293, 4 September 1908, Page 5

DANISH LADY ATHLETES.

'! Among the Scandinavians who went to England for the Olympic Games were a number of Danish young ladies who seem to have excited the admiration of all who saw. them. Varibus papers rhapsodise about their personal charm. ' • ' -' I never' saw a group of women who seemed more fitted to bo the daughters and mothers •of- a .splendid race (says one writer enthusiastically).' Flaxen-haired for the most pas, with chceks of open-a.ir freshness, and - with 'blue eyes, tlioy really seemed like some race of'fair-haired goddesses that belonged .to the youth of the world, when mortals ;' and "immortals wore : supposed to meet and to mate; or shall ' I describe them as apparent survivals of an elder race of heroes and heroines, ./where elemental passions Worked among human beings, and life was o'no incessant scone ,of battlo ' and heroic death, and men and women raised by circumstance to semi-divine strength by heroic environment? .

They, are grace personified, says a more Bober. journal, each movement lithe and supple. Wonderful is-the unity of movement they show, and cither when in lino or when running together,' they seem to be merely parts of a whole and ,not individual entities. Their dress, too, is . artistically appropriate to the l^st'degree, tho well-cut cream divided skirts—a . mode'so suited to gymnastic requirements that its non-adoption-by other women is to be regretted—always falling in pretty folds,-and toning delightfully with the tan . stockings and the tan-coloured shoes worn. The variety, as well as the .excellence of the display they gave on July 15, I' have never .seen equalled. Poised on'ope foot on a parallel bar supported by posts quite 7ft. high, they . executed various evolu-, tions in which outstretched, arms in combination with the free foot displayed an ex 7 tensive part. All the both in these, •in tho • running jumps, in : the vaulting, "and in the' body exercises, were taken in ,very quick time, witli the precision of ths trained soldiers and the suppleness of the trained athlete. We women, felt very proud to see a lady at the head of this superb body of trained gymnasts, directing their display, arid to know that' feminine ingenuity and feminine skill were the origin of an exhibition of strength and of rhythmic harmony that deserved well the volleys .of applauso with which it was greeted.