EMPIRE GAMES

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 69, 23 March 1938, Page 5

EMPIRE GAMES

A BRIEF HISTORY

A brief history of the British Empire Games was related to members of the Wellington Rotary Club at a luncheon yesterday by Mr. H. McCormick, manager of the New, Zealand team. The first gathering of an Empire nature to be held, he said, was the Festival of the Empire Games held in London in 1911, at which teams from different parts of the Empire participated. Canada was successful on that occasion and won an enormous cup presented,by Lord Lonsdale. That cup was lost sight of for about twenty years, and when it was finally discovered Canada gave it back to England. The latter country could think, of no better way of solving what to

do with it than melting it down. So great was the size of the. original cup

that after it had been melted down one cup was presented to the athletic

headquarters in London and smaller cups were presented to every country and every colony in the British Empire.

The next Empire Games were held in Canada in 1930, and were actually the forerunners of the present series; they were in a large measure due to the outstanding efforts of an Australian, Richard Coombes. New Zealand sent quite a large team to Canada and it met with a fair measure of success. Savidan won the six-mile event and Stan. Lay won the javelin throw with a throw that still holds the British Empire Games record. The rowing eight were just beaten after a very fine performance.

A small team of six or eight were sent to the series in London in 1934, and at these Games Jack Lovelock won the mile title for New Zealand in brilliant time, which, however, was beaten by three men at the recent series in Sydney.

Mr. McCormick said that he had been manager of about 70 at the last Games, and the fine performances, of the New Zeulanders Matthews and Boot were well known to all. He paid a tribute to the excellent behaviour of the New Zealand team at all times. "Success at these Games," Mr. • McCormick said, "is not measured entirely by the number of win.-. One of the main parts of the Brilib.' Empire Games is to draw closer togu^sr the bonds of the British Empire."