SPORT IN BRITAIN

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 3714, 12 October 1926, Page 2

SPORT IN BRITAIN

LONDON, August 18. ATHLETICS. It seems passing strange that whilst England provided the winner of the 100 metres at the 1924 Olympic Games, with another irepresentative of the British Empire filling third place, not even one Englishman figured in the final of the A.A.A. open sprint championship recently. Why there should be such a falling off is something which students of form cannot quite explain, for at least half a dozen athletes have been credited with doing even time, that is lOsec for 100 yds, in recent times. It only needs just that, little hit of extra pace to turn any of these into prospective winners at the Amsterdam Olympiad in two years’ time. Whilst the native sprinters were out of it against the German cracks who did so well in the sprint referred to, the British Empire had one finalist in J. 10. London, that finely-built colored man from British Guiana, who many believe will yet take the highest honors. He ran well again on Saturday when winning a 100 yds o]»on handicap from the scratch mark at Ponders End. There was a fairly strong head wind, which must have made a big difference to the runners, so that London did remarkably well to run the course in 10 1-osec when winning his heat in the semi-final and the final itself.

11. A. Johnson was another runner to distinguish himself at the meeting referred to. He was too speedy for Ids rivals in the three miles level race, coming away at the finish to win nicely from C. 8. Constable, of the Surrey A.C., in lorn in 1U 3-ssec. With a strong Birchfield Harriers team in the field, the premier prizes for the team race naturally went to the Midlanders, the scoring four finishing 3, 4, 5, 8, totalling 20 points, Herne Hill being next with 31. Of other hig athletic festivals on Saturday, that at Karlstown was noteworthy tor a good effort by N. S. Biddnlph, of Hallamshire, when winning the two miles championship of Lancashire. He has a birth cjiialification, and although a member of a Yorkshire chib, was able to compote and win in 9min 48scc. A small party of British athletes have been performing with some success in Scandinavia. During a two days’ festival at Oslo, Lord Burghley won a 400 metres hurdle race in 55 7-10 see, and finished second to H. Trosbach, of Germany, in two hurdle races at 110 metres. The German registered 15soc in the first of these, and it is clear lie is a real good man at the game. W. G. Tatham, the old Cambridge athlete, and who is now a master at Eton, met with considerable success. He won races at 500 and 800 metres at Oslo, and another 800 metres event at Bergen. R. A. Rose, of New Zealand, and E. Harper, the ten miles English champion, were prominent in a 5,000 metres race at Oslo, the former winning in loinin 58« ec, with Harper third. The latter ran much better at Bergen a few days later, as ho finished first in lornin 38sec, Rose being his runner-up. C. S. Davis, the old Cantab, and who was a member of the South African Olvmpic team of 1924, was third in one race and fifth in another, the British athletes thus being prominent. BOXING. Followers of boxing have been hoping to see Tommy Milligan and Roland Todd opposed to each other, and it now seems that this will come about. Todd looked likely to climb very high about two years ago, and, whilst he has struck a “snag” or two since, he is still regarded as a very talented boxer. Milligan is a tough fighter, and his aggressiveness may stimulate Todd to bring out his very best. If the latter had Milligan’ temperament ho would lie very hard to beat, for lie has little to learn about the defensive side of boxing. Present arrangements are that the men shall meet for the middleweight title (British) at the Albert Hall, London, in early October, and Ibis will be one of the big contests to start the winter season. The Ring, BlacklTiars, is a boxing centre where there is no off season, and hardly a week passes without at least one interesting bout to draw patrons that way. One of the best displays Gipsy Daniels has over given was when lie opposed Marine Trinder there on Saturday night. He sent his man down in the opening round, and thereafter was master of the situation, finally knocking out his rival in , the sixth round. The same venue was the scone or another important contest on Monday, when Maurice Primer, of France, and G. West, of London, met in a fifteen rounds bout. The home man was too eager at the start, and came in for some heavy punishment. This had a beneficial effect in a way, as he put more restraint on himself and commenced to do much better. Indeed, he punched so hard in the sixth round that jt looked as though Primer would go out. Ho recovered, however, and in the next few rounds regained bis lead on points. West made a fine attempt to end matters in the twelfth round, and how the visitor managed to stand up under the repeated blows he received was a testimony to his pluck and endurance. He weathered the storm, however, and just gained the decision on points at the end of the fifteen rounds.

GOLF. Archie Compson i»layed splendid golf at the Moortowu course, 'near Leeds, yesterday. He went round in (55) strokes, and only needed more than four strokes at three of I lie eighteen holes. His score is three strokes less than the previous record for the Moortown course, which represents great going. Dry weather has made most of the courses hard and fast, so that long drivers can often reach greens in two which usually require three strokes. On the other hand, putting is more difficult when the greens are like glass. Abe Mitchell and T. H. Jolly had scores of 70, so they also beat the previous record. CYCLING. F. H Wykle, the miner cycling crack, has been very much to the fore during the past few days. He made an attack on the British one-hour record at Herne Hill on Friday evening of last week, and rode thirty-nine miles I,sßoyds in the time, which is the best done in England with motorcycle pacing. He followed this tip by winning the National Cyclists’ Union five miles championship the following day. hut in this lie was perhaps fav- * ored by luck. 'there were a doz-eu

riders in the final, which made the narrow track dangerously crowded, and led to a serious accident. Kerridge was leading a few yards from home and Theaker tried to pass him on the inside, which led to a collision, both falling heavily. Theaker, the cause of the mishap, got off with bruises, hut Kerridge was so badly hurt that lie had to be taken to a hospital. This enabled Wylde to come through to win somewhat luckily, as A. White, the holder, had to sit up through the accident.