Lovelock’s Record Lowered

Evening Star, Issue 22882, 14 February 1938, Page 15

Lovelock’s Record Lowered

Welsh Runner’s Mile Victory

New Zealanders Well Beaten

Final Day of Empire Games

press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright SYDNEY, February 13. The final day of the Empire Games yesterday proved disappointing from the New Zealand viewpoint, but was highly gratifying to others, particularly to Australia and South Africa. In perfect weather 40,000 spectators saw Australian competitors win the 220yds women’s final, the 660yds women’s relay, and the running hop, step, and jump. South Africa had even greater success, being victorious in the 120yds hurdles, the pole vault, putting the shot, the mile relay, and the 80 metres hurdles for women, Wales had its first victory in athletics, Alford winning the mile in the Empire Games record time of 4min 11.6 sec, which reduced J. E. Lovelock’s previous record by I.2sec. Three of the eight competitors in the mile were New Zealanders. It .was expected that W. A. C. Pullar would give a good account of himself, but he tailed away badly in the last lap. T. Allen withdrew when half a mile had been covered, and V. P. Boot was left to carry New Zealand’s colours into third place. Boot’s performance, however, was disappointing. He kept near the tail of the field in the early stages, and when he made his run, Alford and Backhouse had too much in reserve for him to overtake them. The world’s record time of 14sec was clocked by Lavery in the 120yds hurdles. However, the referee’s report stated that in this event and also in the women’s 80 metres hurdles the competitors were assisted by a wind.

NOTES ON ATHLETIC EVENTS It appeared that P. F. Sharpley (New Zealand) would be eliminated m his heat of the 120yds hurdles, but he came up well in the last halt of the distance and ran into third place. In the final he got away badly and made no Impression on his opponents. Fouche, who injured a shoulder in training a week ago, had a comfortable margin in winning the shot putt. He did not appear inconvenienced to-day. South Africa created three Empire Games records. For Australia Decima Norman, a young Western Australian girl, by winning the 220yds women’s final, established an Empire Games record, in that she secured triple success in the same Games series. Miss Norman has become the idol of the crowd, and her success to-day met with a tumultuous reception, the crowds standing and cheering as she Hashed tape. England had two successes, the men’s 440yds, in which Roberts created a new Empire Games record, and the running high jump for women, Miss Odam equalling the Empire Games record. H. J. Tyrie (New Zealand) ran last in the men’s 440yds. Running in the outside lane, he was passed by the other competitors before halfway, and he eased up towards the finish. Miss It. Tong (New Zealand) ran an excellent race in the 80 metres hurdles for women. She took third place shortly after the start and maintained that position narrowly from Miss Kennedy (Australia). The New Zealand team withdrew ' from the women’s 660yds relay because it did not have enough 220yds runners. G. Quinn was largely responsible for New Zealand securing third place in the mile relay. A. J. Sayers and A. T. Anderson had left him with much leeway to make up, but he started at a great pace, carrying New Zealand from last to second, ’and, although he tired at the end, New Zealand’s position was considerably improved. Throughout the afternoon there were frequent victory ceremonies, including cycling, boxing, wrestling, rowing, and bowling. When the South African victories were celebrated the band played ‘ Voice of South Africa,’ followed by ‘God Save the King.’ After the final event Sir James Leightwood, ,chairman of the Empire Games Federation, declared the Games closed. He expressed appreciation and gratitude to all concerned. The ceremonies concluded with the firing of three guns and the playing of the National Anthem. >, Results;— ‘ ONE MILE. FINAL. Alford (Wales) .. .. 1 Backhouse (Australia) .. 2 Boot (New Zealand) .. 3 Won by four yards, with two yards between second and third. Time, 4min ll.Gsec—a Games and Australian record. Eight started. Allen ran to the front, but wajf immediately overhauled by Backhouse. After 440 yards, the time for which was 58.2 seconds. Backhouse was leading narrowly from Graham (Scotland). Allen was fourth, Pullar sixth, and Boot last. There were only 10 yards ®between the first and last runners. Graham,

Backhouse, and Clarke (Canada) were the leaders after the half-mile, the time being 2min 4sec, and then came Alford, Boot, Eeles (England), and Pullar, Allen having dropped out. The field was very bunched commencing the last lap, and Graham, Alford, and Backhouse were together, being a yard ahead of Eeles, Clarke, and Boot. Pullar was last some yards back. Boot moved up to fourth with 200 yards to go and Graham withdrew. Alford and Backhouse spurted, closely followed by Boot, but the New Zealander could not keep the pace, and he finished six yards from the winner. 120 YARDS HURDLES. First Heat,—Lavery (South Africa) 1, Stenner (Australia) 2, Sharpley (New Zealand) 3. Won by half a pard, eight yards between second and third. Time, 14.2 sec—a Games and Australian record. Popplewell (Australia) was the other starter. Second Heat.—O’Connor (Canada) I, Kiel (South Africa) 2, McLardy (Australia) 3. Won by a yard, two yards between second and third. Time, ,14.6 sec. Watson (Australia) was the other starter. * FIN3L, Lavery (South Africa) 1 O’Connor (Canada) .. 2 Stenner (Australia) .. 3 Won by a yard, one yard and ahalf between second and third. Time, 14sec—a world record. Six started. Lavery jumped to the front immediately. He took the hurdles magnificently and held his advantage throughout. Sharpley, who was badly away, finished last. 440 YARDS. FINAL. Roberts (England)., 1 . Fritz (Canada) .. .. 2 Shore (South Africa) .. 3 Won by inches, with a yard and a-half between second and third. Time, 47.95ec, which equals the Games and the Australian record. Six started. Tyrie (Neiy Zealand) was last. In a very close finish between the' two inside track men, Roberts gained a narrow decision. ONE MILE RELAY. Canada (Orr, Fritz, Dale, and Loaring) .. 1 England (Handley,. Park, McCabe and Roberts) .. 2 New Zealand (Sayers, Anderson, Quinn and Tyrie) 3 Won by 20 yards, .25 yards between second and third. Time, 3minl 16.9 sec. Australia also started. Quinn in a great burst brought New Zealand from last to second, but he tailed away at the end of the lap and Tyrie started behind the field. He passed Jones (Australia) at the entrance to the straight to give New Zealand third place. WOMEN’S 220 YARDS. FINAL. Miss Norman (Australia) 1 Miss Coleman (Australia) 2 Miss Wearne (Australia) 3 Won by three yards, with two yards between second and third. Time, 24.75ec. Six started. Miss Norman was strongly challenged by Miss Coleman approaching the straight, but, though she was outside the other Australian girl, she sprinted ahead to win comfortably. Miss Norman’s time to-day was onefifth of a second outside the Games record that she established on Thursday. WOMEN’S 80 METRES HURDLES. FINAL. Miss Burke (South Africa) 1 Miss Grant (Australia) 2 Miss Tong (New Zealand) 3 Won by inches, with a yard between second and third. Time, 11. a Games and Australian record. Six started. Miss Burke early went to the front and was never headed. Miss Tong jumped well and held third place from the third hurdle onwards. 660 YARDS RELAY. Australian (Misses Norman, , Woodland, Coleman and Peake) 1 England (Misses Stokes, Baby, Saunders and Jeffrey) .. .. 2 Canada (Misses Montgomery, Howard, Meagher and Dolson) 3

Won by 15 yards, with the same distance between second and third. Time, Imin 15.2 sec. New Zealand withdrew. PUTTING THE SHOT. Fouche (South Africa), 47ft 6in 1 Coy (Canda), 45ft 9|in .. .. 2 Drew (Australia), 45ft 3§in .. 3 Eight competed. HOP, STEP, AND JUMP, Metcalfe (Australia), 50ft lOin 1 Miller (Australia), 50ft 6Jin ~ 2 Dickenson (Australia), 50ft ljm 3 POLE VAULT. Du Plessis (South Africa), 18ft Fletcher (Australia), 13ft Ojin .. 2 Frid (Canada); 12ft 9in .. .. 3 Webster (England) and Winter (Australia) also cleared 12ft 9in,;but had more failures than Webster, Nine competed. The effort of Du Plessis was a Games and an Australian record. WOMEN’S HIGH JUMP. Miss Odam (England), sft 3in .. 1 Miss Gardner (England), sft 2m 2 Miss Forbes (New Zealand), sft 2in ® Seven competed. Miss Gardner was awarded second place as she had fewer failures than the New Zealand girl. Miss Odam’s performance equalled the Games and the Australian record. THE CYCLISTS BROWN'S GOOD SHOWING 1,000 METRES SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP. First heat: Ulmer (New Zealand) gained the victory over Hicks (England) by a length. , Second heat: Giles (New Zealand) beat Johnston (Australia). First semi-final: Ulmer led Gray out slowly, but in the last 300 yards Gray dashed up. Ulmer responded and established a four lengths lead, but Gray flashed past and won by three-quarters of a length. Second semi-final: Porter (Australia) beat Giles. FINAL. Gray beat Porter by a wheel. The time for the last 220 yards was 13 3-ssec In a special match to decide third place, Giles was too good for Ulmer in a hard fought sprint. In the senior four-lap event over 16 miles, Patrick (New Zealand), although unplaced, made the fastest time of 26min 57sec. The event was won by Hutchinson off 4min 30sec, who took 29min 45.45ec. 100 KILOMETRES ROAD RACE. Binneman (South Africa) 1 Brown (New Zealand) 2 Jones (England) ~ •• 8 Won by half a wheel. Time, 2hr 53min 29sec. Thirteen started. The course was a gruelling one and severely tested the riders. The race was marked by the tactics of Binneman, who repeatedly attempted to ride his opponents to the ground. At the end of the first lap, Grose was leading his team mates, closely behind Binneman and Robinson (Canada). The experienced English pair, Mills and Jones, endeavoured to break away, but the others were watching closely and quickly bridged the gap. Binneman maintained his lead, followed by Mills, Jones, Brown and Robinson. Six competitors, including Grose, had to leave the field owing to chain trouble or punctures. Brown battled ahead gamely and kept close to Binneman. He stalled off a challenge from Jones and Mills, but could not quite head the South African. Triner (New Zealand) rode a good race and was never far behind. He finished seventh. “ MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE " REFEREE'S RULING The Sunday newspapers strongly criticise the referee’s ruling that the wind assisted the hurdlers, thus probably depriving Lavery of .a world record.

The manager of the South African team (Mr Emery) describes the referee’s decision as a miscarriage of justice. , ■ Laverj himself said that it was a cross wind, and, if anything, retarded him.