OUR GREATEST ATHLETE

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 70, 19 September 1936, Page 8

OUR GREATEST ATHLETE

The announcement that .J. E. Lovelock, the world's record mile runner, Olympic champion, and one of the greatest athletes of all time, will visit New Zealand before the' end of the year for a stay of some weeks among his own, jieople as the guest of the Government, will meet with universal approval. It wasan old custom in the days of the classic Olympic Games for the fellow; countrymen of, a champion to repay the honour' and glory reflected on the nation by an Olympic victory by rnaking him the guest of the State, not for a few weeks, but sometimes even for life. The least New Zealand can do for Lovelock is to enable him to see his own people again after so long an absence. The life of an athlete involves many sacrifices; he has not only "to scorn delights and live laborious days" in order to acquire the fitness indispensable to success in the field and on the track, but there is also the handicap this devotion entails to a chosen profession, as in the case of Lovelock, and, with an amateur, a considerable financial loss. Apart from all this, 1 New Zealand is eager to see Lovelock in person, and in the athletic world from the schools onward there will be the keenest interest in hearing from Lovelock himself, so far as they are transmissible, some of the secrets of his success. For this reason we are glad to note, from the Prime Minister's statement, that "in addition to meeiing the various athletic authorities, lie will give a series of broadcast addresses and lectures which, should be of great assistance to young athletes." We are sure that all will join with the Government in doing their best "to honour both the man and his performances in a fitting manner."