OLYMPIC MANAGER’S RETURN

Evening Star, Issue 21218, 27 September 1932, Page 10

OLYMPIC MANAGER’S RETURN

IMPRESSIONS OF GAMES SUCCESS OF VILLAGE That, the Olympic Village was one of the features of the Games of the Tenth Olympiad was the opinion expressed this morning to a ‘ Star ’ reporter by Mr P. X. Handle, manager of the New Zealand Olympic team, who returned to Dunedin last night and was met on the railway station by a large crowd of representatives of sporting bodies and business men. “The general conduct of the teams of all nations in the village was excellent, ’’ said Mr Rnndle, and one of the few arguments that did arise was of a political nature; and, concerning only the Argentinians, it was purely local, and was soon settled. The village was a tremendous success. It was splendidly built and well laid out, flowers being planted round each cottage, and each was surrounded by beautiful turf. The whole place was made to look like a garden town. Visitors wore allowed inside the administration block, but nobody was allowed inside the athletes’ quarters without authority from a manager or high Olympic official, so that the teams had absolute privacy. On one side were

the English-speaking nations; the European nations were kept together, and the coloured races were also quartered together. In the street in which the New Zealand team had its quarters were the Australians and Canadians; adjacent were the British team, and the remainder of the Canadians; and also not far away were the Americans, South Africans, and so on. BRITISH SPORTSMANSHIP. The Olympic ideal that it was the taking part and not the winning that counted most was the backbone of the Games, which revealed a fine spirit. This was impressed everywhere, and it was most marked that nations which were just taking up sport, such as the Latin American nations, were rapidly learning the ideals of British sportsmanship. There was no doubt that' the European and other nations look to the Britishers as possessing the finest ideals of sportsmanship and the learning of these ideals must have a very good effect. It was remarkable, said Mr Bundle, that with 2,000 athletes taking part in the Games, representing all types, creeds, and races, there were practically no deplorable incidents, the only marring feature being the display given by the Brazilians in the water polo match against Germany. Air Bundle saw the Brazilians in the game that preceded this, and lie "was satisfied that the English referee should have taken firm action on that occasion. THE STADIUMS. The difficulty of keeping in touch with all sections of the Games was a real one. said Mr Bundle. The athletic events, the hockey, and field events and some of the equestrian events were held at the big Stadium, the swimming, stadium was quite adjacent, and the Armoury where the fencing was held was quite handy. The Boxing Auditorium was right in Los Angeles, the cycling was held at Pasadena, a suburb about twelve miles out, the rowing was held at Long Beach, twenty-seven miles distant, and the equestrian sports at the Riviera Country Club, ten miles out. When it is realised that there are 750,000 motor cars in Los Angeles, one could guess that the traffic system was a little different to that of New Zealand, and getting about from one place to another often took a lot of time in view of the number of trafficstops that frequently occurred en route. Mr Bundle, fortunately, had a car placed at his disposal,' and a chauffeur who knew Los Angeles thoroughly, so that this simplified matters considerably. An instance of the attention to detail that was paid by the authorities was given by the Now Zealand manager in referring to the tribune seats at the Stadium, which wore reserved for high visiting officials and other visitors. At the end of each row was a tape machine —there were dozens of them—which recorded not only the events as they occurred, but also recorded events occurring m all the other stadiums. Thus, it was necessary only to walk to the end of the row, pull off a strip of tape and read what was happening at all the stadiums. Attendants were running round with trays of iced orange drinks free of charge to those in the tribune seats, and also provided Japanese umbrellas to protect the visitors from the sun. THE BOXING CONTESTS. Mr Bundle bore out what Lowe, the middle-weight boxer, had to say concerning the poor arrangements for the boxing contests, and said that Purdie, who was told ho would not bo required that night, was at the pictures when he was culled upon at short notice to fight. Bert Lowe fought a good willing fight, doing most of the leading, Mr Bundle stated, and ho got in some good hefty punches; but the German, Bernlohr, had a very long reach and was a good deal taller, these advantages being too much for Lowe. The Dunwas very heartily applauded for his good showing, and it was a good clean fight. The boxing bouts were run by the International Boxing Ecderation, but the athletic events were controlled by tbe American Athletic Union, which made such a thorough success of the organisation. most vivid impression. “My most vivid impression of the Games is seeing Thomas Hainpsoii, of Groat Britain, winning the. 800 metres.” said Mr Bundle. “ 'The

sprints gave me a tremendous thrill, but I cannot get away from Hampson’s win. He gauged his run to a nicety, and 10yds past the post was all in, collapsing on the grass.” The most popular athlete with the Americans was Lord Burghley, who was a great favourite with the crowds. He had only to appear on the scene to arouse a storm of cheers. He was a charming fellow, and Mr Bundle said that he had asked Lord Burghley if he would come to New Zealand and perhaps do a bit of hurdling, informing him that even if he did not compete, he would be assured of a. wonderful reception. Lord Burghley said that he felt that he would like to come, but unfortunately he could not spare the time.

■'AN UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT.” Referring to the much-discussed 5,000 metres race, Mr Bundle said that Hill, the American, was just a foot or two behind Lehtinen, the .Finn, and ready to make his sprint. He started to come round Lehtinen, who stepped out and blocked him. . Hill went to go inside and Lehtinen went back again. Count de Baillet-Latonr, president of the International Olympic Association, said that he was absolutely convinced that it was an accident, and Hill admitted that, too, refusing to make a .protest. “It was an unfortunate accident,” said Mr Bundle, ‘‘ and Lehtinen was ready to refuse to take the championship. It was a fine example of courtesy between two good sportsmen.” In passing, he mentioned that Count de Baillet-Latonr was very disappointed that he had to cut Dunedin out of his itinerary, but as he had come to New Zealand primarily to see the scenery, he felt that he could not miss the opportunity of seeing the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, which could only be accomplished by omitting Dunedin from his itinerary. NEW ZEALAND ATHLETES. “ I am still convinced that if Alan Elliott, the New Zealand sprinter, had had six months in the United States on the fast tracks, he would have been in the first three,” said Mr Bundle. Bill Savidan ran well, and proved himself the finest distance man in the British Empire. To run fourth each time in such a field was a real feat. He wanted to compete in the Marathon, but the manager was not agreeable, as he felt it would knock Savidan up. J. K. Lovelock reached the village on July 25, a week before his event, and asked by Mr Bundle what he wanted to do said he would like to take things quietly and train with Comes, of Great Britain, which he did. Mr Bundle said that he did not subscribe to the opinion that Lovelock had Lad too much hard racing at Home, but he slackened up a bit on reaching Los Angeles, and the sea trip and.exhausting railway journey affected him, so that he did not have time to pick up form again. With another week at Los Angelos a different story would probably have been told, this being borne out by the fact that he did better time, immediately after the games. Ho rant a very good race to win his heat at the games; but the next day he was a different Lovelock, and said that he was not ready to run two important races in successive days.

At San Francisco Lovelock ran a splendid mile for the British Empire against the United States, quite the best of the day ; and later at Montreal lie did 4min 14 l-ssec for the mile, indicating that lie was coming rapidly into form. “My opinion is that Lovelock will break 4min lOsec for the mile.” said Mr Bundle, ” and 1 would not be .surprised to see him beat world’s record time for tbe distance. “ 1 asked him bow he had improved so mueh since leaving New Zealand, and bo attributed it to having plenty of high-class competition to run against, which brought out the best in him. If Savidan and Elliott had similar high-class competition I think they would develop just as Lovelock did.” Mr Bundle paid a tribute to the behaviour of tbe New Zealand team, stating that there was no dissension, and that be was very gratified to bear the encomiums that had been passed upon them. They were absolutely showered with hospitality, and from the time they arrived invitations poured in. the boys making some very line friends.