FINNISH ATHLETICS

Evening Star, Issue 22276, 29 February 1936, Page 23

FINNISH ATHLETICS

COUNTRY'S NATIONAL SPORT PREPARATIONS FOR OLYMPIC GAMES “ Just as you regard Rugby as your national game, so in Finland trade and Held athletics is looked upon as the national sport,” said Mr Paavo Simelius, Consul for Finland in Australia and New Zealand, in an interview with a ‘ Star ’ reporter to-day. Mr Simclius, whose headquarters arc in Australia, arrived here yesterday, and loaves tomorrow to join the Marama at. Bluff en route to Melbourne. Finland’s athletes have undergone a thorough preparation for the forthcoming Olympic Games in Berlin, Mr Sirnelius stated, and as the Olympics are so close at hand it will be possible to send a strong team, Berlin being only two days distant from Finland.

From December to April the track and field men do little routine training, this being the winter season there, but Mr Sirnelius mentioned that they kept themselves in condition by doing a certain amount of skiing, this being especially the case with the long-dis-tance runners.

“ Paavo Nurmi is not going to participate in active running any more,” said Mr Simclius, “ but he is one of the Amateur ' Athletic Association’s coaches.”

Finland has a couple of new middledistance runners who are looked upon as Olympic prospects, these being Toiler! and Hoekert. The former has some particularly good performances over 800 metres, and will also engage in the 1,500 metres. Hoekert will devote his attention to the 1,500 metres and 5,000 metres. Lauri Lehtinen, who won the 5,000 metres event at the last Olympic Games, and Isohollo, who won the 3,000 metres steeplechase, are both training, and will he on hand for the Games, he stated. Probably the greatest athletic family 1 in the world are the Jarvinens, of whom Matti holds the world’s record for the javelin. He is certain to be competing again, and his brother Akilles, who has always been looked upon as a decathlon man, has also showi form over the 400 metres hurdles, hut whether he will concentrate on the hurdles or devote himself to the decathlon, Mr Sirnelius was unable to say. Perasalo and Sippafa, who toured New Zealand last season, are almost sure to be in Finland’s team for Berlin, the former as a javelin thrower and the latter for the high jump. “We never run on grass in Finland,” said Mr Sirnelius. “ All the competition takes place on cinder tracks.” He added that Finland did not have such fine grass arenas as New Zealand, but it did not matter in athletics as there were so many good cinder tracks. Americans who had competed at Helsinki considered the cinder track there one of the fastest in Europe. Not only in the cities and towns were cinder tracks laid down, but every small village had some kind of track, so that there was a chance for every boy to develop his prowess. Track and field athletics is the national sport,” lie declared, “ and it is every boy’s ambition to represent his country.” Soccer and baseball were also very popular in Finland. Mr Sirnelius said that Finland had already made application to stage the Olympic Games of 1940, and a special stadium would he built , for that purpose. He thought Finland should have a good chance of being allotted the meeting, because it had taken a most active part in the Olympic Games, and also met with much success. There are three or four Finnish coaches in Italy, he stated, and they had been there for some time. There had been one in England for a short time at the Summer School last year, and there were also some in the Baltic countries, such as Latvia.