AMATEUR ATHLETICS

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 12 March 1927, Page 14

AMATEUR ATHLETICS

WIDE AND NURMI. THE SWEDE’S IMPROVEMENT. Edwin Wide, the great Swedish runner, is. .in America, at present, anti in an interview with George 'Trevor, ol the New York “Times,” explains that lie has lost his inferiority complex and rs confident of beating tire great Nurmi any time they meet over certain distances. “I can beat Nurmi any time we meet .at distances below oU/0 me ties,” said the great Swede. “Nurmi is too slow. 1 can match him at distances from half a mile to two miles, and run away from him during the final sprint to the tape. Paavo ha s n<> .sprint. He didn't- need it until recently, since nobody could follow his exhausting pace .and have any stomach left for sprinting. It was Nurmi who showed the rest- of us 'how to build up endurance. Now 1 can follow his punishing early pace and cut him down in tha home stretch. Until last- summer I was impressed with the heliet that Nurmi was invincible. L felt- that he could beat me any time we .started. It- was in our two match races at Stockholm lust summer that £ overcame tills feeling of -inferiority. _My confidence came all of a sudden. When I found that I could .stick to Nurmi, jno matter how mercileiSis the going, I knew then that some day- I would- be his master. “Nurmi is physically as good as ever, but -his .stvle has suffered. He always took a shorter stride than I do. but now it is too short for the outdoor circuits. His modified style tires him. Nurmi runs with his body carried upright his legs reaching out to pull him. •along. That’s the vogue in Finland. Mv style is more Ritola’s. Ido not favour the rigid vertical- posture, but bend forward from the hips. “Next summer I plan to meet Nurmi over the mile route in Stockholm. Maybe the world’s record will fall that afternoon. I also hope to face Beltzer in a return 1500 metre race at Berlin. ’ Wide i.s five feet eight inches tall, 30 years old, and weighs 145 pounds, and doesn’t smoke or drink. He d-s 'a school teacher by profession. The following table .shows the. .best times of Nurmi and Wide : Wide Nurmi

Nurmi ran two miles indoor® m Sonin. 58 l-osec.

SCHOLZ AND HAHN. • Jackson Seholz and Lloyd Halm, the two popular American athletes who visited New* Zealand last summer, have figured prominently in the sports pages ol’ (the New* York papers in the last month or so. As a member of the New York Athletic Club, which is probably the strongest organisation of its kind in the world, with a membership of ovf seven .thousand -and financial resources running into millions of dollars, Seholz was singled out for special honours for the 1926 season. At the annual meeting of the club Seholz was presented with the John D> Nagle prize for scoring most points in open competition during 1926. There is a special interest for New-- Zealand in this aw*ard, because of the fact that most of the winner’s points were registered in the Dominion last year, when the Olympic champion scored 25 firsts and five seconds in 30 starts.

Hahn, wlio Avon the United States mile championship on his return from New Zealand, tackled five of America’s best at one of the indoor armouries in New York last monthi He led all the way, ..fighting off a desperate -bid by Alan Helffrich, -the old champion, in the last lap, to win by a yard and a half in a-sizzling finish. The time for the race was 1.57 1-5 —good time foT so early in the season. fleforoaHnaßlun

SO I metres .. 1.57 1.56 1,503 met'e^i .. 3.51 8-10 3.52 6-10 2,003 metres 5.25 9-10 5.26 3-5 '.603 metres .. 14.40 4-10 14.28 3-5 10.0::O metres .. 30.55 4-10 30.06 1-5 Or.e mile .. 4.15 1-5 4.10 1-5 Two miles — .. 9.01 9.10 2-5 Tliree miles .. .. 14.13 6-10 14.07 4-5