OLYMPIC GAMES

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 45, 23 February 1938, Page 8

OLYMPIC GAMES

THE 1940 MEETING TRANSFER TO LONDON MOOTED WHITE CITY BEING EXTENDED BUT JAPAN GOEb AHEAD Japan is going ahead with its preparations for the 1940 Olympic Games despite the fact that there is a considerable amount of uncertainty whether the political situation will be sufficiently settled by then to permit of the proper staging of this great sporting festival. There is a likelihood, in the event of the Games not being held in Japan, that London will be the \enue, and plans have been adopted for tlie reconstruction of White City at a cost of more than £250,000. The plans have been drawn up by Mr. Archie Leitch, well known as the designer of most of the Soccer grandstands in Britain, and Brig.-General A. C. Critchley, the White City chief, insisted, in a statement, that the reconstruction would be carried out solely for the requirements of his company. In other words, whether or not he gets the Cup Final, or the Olympid Games, he is going ahead with the scheme, which will give London one of the greatest sport stadiums in the world. There will be room for 163,000 people in the two tiers of seating and standing accommodation which will surround the ground, and 119,000 of these will be under cover. Provision will be made for greyhound and athletic tracks and for a full-size football pitch. Transport Co-operation. General Critchley hinted that there might be a special object in view in regard to the provision of a Soccer pitch —something entirely apart from the Cup Final, which could only mean a team having the stadium as its headquarters. He claims to have the co-operation of the London Passenger Transport Board who have agreed to move the existing Wood Lane tube station to a site immediately opposite the present main entrance to the White City. From this station, which will have three platforms and facilities for 800 passengers a minute, bridges will convey train passengers direct to either the first or second tier of the stadium. New road plans will ensure ample car parking facilities for 10,000 cars and easy arrival and departure for motorists. It is the most colossal sport stadium scheme yet proposed for London, and, when completed, it will be considerably bigger than the Berlin Olympic Stadium. Government Concern. Replying to questions concerning the possibility of future Olympic Games being staged in England, General Critchley said he thought the Olympics had grown far too big for any private concern to undertake staging them. He thought it would have to be a matter for a Government department, in which event he would gladly hand over the New White City Stadium, free, gratis and for nothing to the department concerned. Meanwhile the Organising Committee of the Twelfth Olympiad issue a statement from Tokio that Mr. Werner Klingeberg, who had charge of sport events at the Berlin Olympics, has accepted the position of technical adviser to the Tokio Olympic Games. He was recommended to the post by the International Olympic Committee. After visiting the I.A-A.F. headquarters in the various parts of Europe to confer with the different countries on matters relating to the Tokio Olympics, Mr. Klingeberg travelled via the United States and arrived at Yokohama recently. The site selected for the Main stadium in the XHth Olympic Games, Tokia, is the outer garden of the Meiji Shrine, which is dedicated to Meiji Tenno, the most reverenced emperor of the Japanese nation, and is situated in the western part oT the city of Tokio. As Japan’s important athletic meetings are mostly held there, transportation facilities are well developed in its neighbourhood, radiating in all directions.