New Zealanders Are Potential Athletic Champions

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 7241, 22 August 1933, Page 6

New Zealanders Are Potential Athletic Champions

BUT MUST BE PITTED AGAINST THE WORLD’S BEST "Wo havo the material to matte world champions and all that our athletes need is adequate training and experience and I am more than ever convinced that wo ought to bo represented, and well represented, at every session of the Olympic Games.” So declared Mr. P. N. Bundle, of Dunedin, manager of tho 1932 New Zealand Olympic Games team that visited Los Angeles, when addressing Palmerston North Botarians yesterday on tho experiences and impressions gleaned during the tour.

Tho ability of New Zealanders to make good in the realm of athletics was amply proved by the record-break-ing performances of Lovelock, declared the speaker. When queried on the subject when at Olympia, Lovelock had unhesitatingly described his successes to continued hard competition, which was unbeatable in keying a man up to his best form and keeping him there. "For this reason we cannot afford to bo left out of the Games; we must continue to participate,” said Mr. Bundle. “Wo must rise to the occasion and furnish the means whereby our athletes can go and test themselves against tho best the world can offer. I was very much impressed with t-lic prevailing spirit among the players at the Games. Particularly was this true of the Latin-American nations, whose chief hobby previously was the staging of a revolution. Now they arc starting off scratch and enjoying it. The camaraderie among contestants was irreproachable, and many lasting international friendships > were made which can not be without their effect on tho world.

"Above all the aim of those who gather at tho Olympiads is to foster the ideal of the perfect mind and the perfect body. For this reason I think the Games cannot but commend themselves to the youth of our country, for that after all is the basic thought pervading British sport. ’ ’