British Amateur Athletic Championships

Northern Advocate, 13 July 1936, Page 5

British Amateur Athletic Championships

{.United Press Association. —By Electric Telegraph. — Copyright .] (Received 10 a.m.) LONDON, July 11. rjMIE British amateur athletic championships opened yesterday at White City on a heavy ground.

The New Zealander, J. E. Lovelock, waited until the last minute before deciding to race in the mile instead of the three miles. It is suggested that Lovelock is concentrating on the 1500 metres at the Berlin Olympiad. The masterly ease with which he finished his heat yesterday, being content with a place, created a good impression. Lovelock has entered for the 1500 and 5000 metres in Berlin, but intends to start in one only. He has been training with Boot and Matthews. There was an attendance of 40,000 to-day. in spite of heavy rain in the afternoon.

fcole Vault Final. The Anal of the pole vault became a duel at 12ft. Gin. between Woodhouse (Australia) and F. R. Webster. Each failed in his first two attempts to clear 12ft. 9in. Webster succeeded at his third attempt, but Woodhouse, after clearing the bar, just dislodged it as he came down. > Webster therefore won, breaking his own, English record of 12ft. Gain. Last year Metcalfe carried off the second title without serious opposition. .. . The day’s best performance was by Britain’s Olympic hope, D. O. Findlay, who held the 120 yards hurdle title, and broke the record in heavy rain. i The prospects of a new mile I record in the most eagerly antici- | paled final of the day vanished j when heavy rain fell. Lovelock i had difficulty in gaining a good i position, and J. F. Comes made an | Imposing bid in. the last 300 yards, j but could not long sustain his effort, the title-holder, Wooderson. Lovelock and Graham soon regaining the lead. Wooderson Wins.

Wooderscn led into the straight, where Lovelock made his challenge, which the sturdy Englishman resisted in a determined fashion, showing remar'kable sprinting powers. The first quarter mile was run in 1m 2 l-ss, the half-mile in 2m ss. and the threequarter mile in 3m 13s. The heavy downpour accounted for the slow times.

The Australian, Watson, ran his usual stylish race, and hurdled well in the 440 ydrds. He was nicely placed until the straight, where he still appeared to have a chance of winning, but he could not summon up a reserve for the final dash, in which Sheffield easily went ahead. The results of the finals and heats are as follows:—' One Mile. —Final: Wooderson 1, Lovelock 2, Graham 3. A yard; 10 3 7 ards. Time, 4.15. Three Miles.—P. D. Ward 1, F. Close 1, A. V. Reese (title-holder) 3. Time, 14.15 4-5. This is a new English native record. J. E. Lovelock scratched and Matthews retired after the mile had been covered. Marathon. —D. M. Robertson (2 hours 35 minutes 2 2-5 seconds) beat E. Harper by Im. l-ss. Both men entered the stadium together, and fought out the final lap at the speed of threemilers. 440 Yards Hurdles. —Final: J. Sheffield 1, A. J. Watson 2, R. K. Brown 3. Two and a half yards; half a yard. Time, 55 3-ss.

120 Yards Hurdles.—D. O. Findlay (title-holder) 1. J. Thornton 2. A. H. Pilbrow 3i Three yards; one yard. Time, 14 3-ss. A new British record. 440 Yards. —A. G. K. Brown 1. G. L. Rampling 2. W. Roberts (title-holder) 3. Five yards; inches. Time. 48 3-ss. 220 Yards. —Final: A.. W. Sweeney 1. C. B. Holmes 2, W. Van Beveren 3. Time, 21.9.

110 Yards.—M. Oscndarp (Holland) 1. A. W. Sweeney (title-holder) 2. C. B. Holmes 3. Won by. inches; half a yard between second and third. Time. 9 4-ss.

High Jump.—Final; Metcalfe. 6ft. lin.. 1; Brasser, 6ft.. 2; West (titleholder). oft. 10in.. 3.

Half Mile.—Final: Powell 1, E. R Handley 2. K. Kucharski 3. Time, 1.54 1-7.

Pole Vault.—A. Kinalby, A. Leach. F. Webster and Woodhouse qualified for the final, clearing lift. 6in. Six Miles.—J. Noji (Poland) 1. Time, 29.43. This constitutes the best championship performance, and beats J. A. Burn’s English record of 29.45.