WHAT DOES HE GRASP?

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 83, 9 April 1934, Page 10

WHAT DOES HE GRASP?

WINTER GAMES POSTER

SIGNIFICANCE OF OLYMPIC RINGS

In the. admirable poster in colours for the Olympic Winter Games, to bo held in Germany in 1936, copies of which have arrived in the Dominion, the figure of a skier is depicted. On his breast are the five Olympic rings, in his left hand he holds his skis, whilst his right arm points aloft. The full length of the right arm is not shown, and the question has been raised as to what the designer of the poster, the Munich artist, Ludwig Hohlwcin,. had in mind by this gesture of the arm. It has been suggested that tho right hand is merely directed to some high peak from which tho young athlete has come down in impetuous descent; that perhaps he is summoning his sports comrades of the world; or that perhaps he greets them with the German salute.'

For the best and most humorous solution of: the riddle a Swedish newspaper offered prizes to its readers. In some of the varied answers received, reports the latest news bulletin issued by the German organising committee, phantasy soared into the realms of the ideal. Some placed a laurel wreath in the skier's hand, or likened him to the famous Statue of Liberty, or endowed him with the sporting fervour of a Yo-Yo virtuoso. The majority, however, credited him with clutching something nourishing, such as beer, sausages, and roast goose. One competitor betrayed his own predilection, and at the same time his own curious conception of taste, by suggesting chewing gum. Another, more crafty, held that the skier had in his hand a copy of the worthy journal whose proprietors 'were offers ing the prizes. He was doomed to disappointment in his hope of a prize, for the editor modestly disqualified

Several wh6 have seen this striking poster in Wellington, together with that for the Olympic Games, also to bo held in Germany in 1936, have raised still another question: what do the five intertwined rings on the front of the skier's jersey represent1? They were devised by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder and life honorary president of the modern Olympic Games, to .symbolise the world importance of the games, the five rings intertwining tho five continents. To de Coubertin not only belongs the credit of being the originator of the modern Olympic Games, but also tho credit of having invested this great sports festival with a special character. All ceremonies have been cleverly devised by him. As the motto for the Games he lias taken the words of.the Dominican Prior Didon, '' Citius, Aetius, Fortius,'' and has himself coined the fine phrase of the "ardent mind in muscular body"—"mens fervida in corpore lacertoso." lie drafted the Olympic oath, the wording of the invitation, and of the opening address—that no prosy speaker . should afflict tho festival —and he is also the originator of the other part of the colourful opening ceremony whereby tho' Games commence under tho roar of a cannon, the release of doves, the unfurling of the Olympic banner, and the blazing forth of the Olympic torch.

The modern Olympic Games were originated on June 23, 1894, and the fortieth anniversary of that day is to be commemorated at the forthcoming session of the International Olympic Committee in Athens. Recently Baron de Goubertin forwarded a letter to the German organising committee. "It will be a great date," he wrote, "not only in the history of tlic Games but in the history of the present age when the young men from all nations will enter the Berlin stadium, following their national- flags, and will join in taking the sacred oath."