INJURY TO ATHLETE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22579, 18 November 1936, Page 20

INJURY TO ATHLETE

[EFFECT OF CINDER TRACKS Much has been heard of the ill-effects suffered by athletes who have been brought up on grass tracks and then compete on hard cinder tracks, but a very practical example is offered by the case of J. Metcalfe, Australian jumper. Metcalfe has brought back to Australia painful evidence of jumping on cinder tracks when not used to them. His left ankle is decidedly out of alignment, following on the jarring it received in Berlin and doctors are dubious about the great athlete's future. A photograph taken of Metcalfe's ankles shows liow tho left one has become crooked. Metcalfe has not allowed himself to become worried and is concentrating upon his training, working himself into form. But he is by no means certain that the injured ankle will stand up to the strain of high jumping. There is another aspect of this ankle injury. Both Australia and New Zealand are sending their athletes overseas to international games and making them risk injuries such as Metcalfe's. It is unfair to send men away before they have had the opportunity of preparing on cinder tracks in their own countries.