FINLAND’S RISE IN SPORT

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 237, 7 October 1938, Page 11

FINLAND’S RISE IN SPORT

PREPARING FOE OLYMPIAD IMPRESSIONS OF ENGLISHa- WOMEN ry sHaving visited Germany and Sweden to see how things are done )y in those lands generally, but more particularly in relation of 31 we came to Finland some months ago, ie first of all to witness the world ski jumping cnampionships. That was a . wonderful meeting and the splendid m way in which everything was run r " proved to us how well Finland will attend to the organisation of the 1940 Olympic Games to be held in July and id August at Helsingfors. >y 'ihis Is the opinion of two young Englishwomen who here record their *1 impressions of sport and outdoor lilc r_ in Finland and the part they play in national fitness. id The progress Finland is making in every form of sport is in no way oetie ter exemplified than in the institution >y of the new college at Viermaki, which n has a long and, to most foreigners, :e unpronounceable name, which, oeing r- interpreted, means “The White House i. of Finnish Sport.” The White House J- is a lovely building, designed in acts cordance with the most modern pnn>r ciples of architecture and created in a d lovely setting of lakes and pine trees, ie Apart from the White House serving l- as a central headquarters, so to speak, it it is available for the use of ail the it associations governing various branches of sport who wish to have d students in residence under first-class i- coaches for periods of different e lengths. °_ Finnish Coaching First Class j That Finnish coaching is first class 1 is proved by the successes that have v been attended by Finnish sportsmen in many branches of physical endeavour. 0 The names of suen athletes as Faavo ■* Nurmi, Hannes Koienmainen, Ville Ritola, Matti Jarvinen and Kalevi 1 Kotkas, and of such boxers as Baexs lund, are known throughout the sport- " ing world; but what is not pernaps so universally known is that the Finns e make sport in general, and, athletics " in particular, the main feature oi ~ their campaign for national physical fitness. They seem to believe, as do • the better informed among Brltisn people that to the average man anu - woman, with the exception of the well-drilled inhabitants of a few coaai tries, plain physical jerks make out a ■ small appeal. The Finns believe that ® sport must ever be the mainspring oi i national physical endeavour. s These things being so, it is perhap* • not so surprising, as might otnerwisc [ appear, that out of a population of j little more than two million people, • no less than 14,000 young Finnish ath--7 letes, by attaining excellent perform- - ances, qualify themselves to attend ■ local courses of instruction which are 5 held throughout the country. Of the s 14,000 “locals" some 500, who arc much envied by their fellows, go on to • attend district courses of longer dura- • tion. Even that is not the end, for of • the 500 a fifth part whose names are " by that time becoming household words, are privileged to attend a slid longer national course, it is from this final 100 that the Finnish national team is selected, and those wno gain their places become literally national heroes. The effects of this system are very far reaching and one realises how popular track and field athletics aie in Finland by noticing, in the school playgrounds, how even the smallest boys are always practising shot put--5 ting, discus and javelin throwing, wiln f miniature implements, hurdling, jumpc ing and running. Of course, when boys i start their athletic education at so , young an age, and with such a splen- ) did spirit of emulation, they are bound . to produce the very best that is in them when they reach maturity. P Apart from the very first-class j instruction which has been, and is, t given to Finnish athletes by such great national coaches as Jaakko Mikkola and Armas Valste, both oi whom, incidentally, have given their ’ services at the English Summei 1 School for Athletes in past years, ’ there are certain attributes of atmosphere, environment and national life “ which contribute in no small measure to the success of Finnish athletes. t Fearlessness and Balance 2 Finland is a delightful country, both i in winter and in summer, with a spaci- „ ousness, a climate and a kindliness » among the people which promotes t physical well-being and personal happiness, even among foreigners paying but a brief visit to the country, lnen, again the national winter sport oi i ski-ing gives the Finns both xearlesst ness ana balance and that all-import-ant attribute of residient leg strength ? which is so tremendously important » to the athlete. Another contributory r factor to success is the Finnish Sauna . bath. Very briefly described, one goes > into a hut which is equipped with a large stove and a range of benches j rising to the ceiling. Yvhen the doox r is shut the attendant pours water t over the stove and the room is at once l filled with a cloud of steam which makes the skin tingle. The bathci , mounts to the highest bench and lies j there, while the steam percolates to . the lungs and opens the pores of the • skin. Then he or she is lightly beaten by the attendant weilding a bunch of fragrant birch twigs. The bath is followed by a roll in the snow and a reat . period in a cooler part of the hut, an r of which, is exceedingly invigorating. . In the season when snow is absent, the custom is to jump into the lake . adjoining the hut. 5 Building up Athletic Technique - Going from the general to the partit cular, tne observant foreign sportsman is bound to be impressed by the » trouble the Finns take to build up athI letic technique slowly and patiently • and to develop the sets of muscles they require for certain purposes. For example, a javelin thrower living in quite a small room will have a spea* : suspended by two bands from a sort of clothes line and having protected ■ the point of the javelin with a rub- ■ ber pad, will throw it very lightly against the wall, until the proper

actions to be performed have become second nature to him. Again, wonderful high jumpers like Kalevi Kotkas, who last year made a European record of 6ft. BJn., devote long periods of their training to jogging quietly in the Finnish foresr which are carpeted with fallen pine needles. Jogging on such a resilient surface, the Finns maintain, develops the springing powers of their legs to a most surprising degree