OLYMPIC GAMES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26542, 18 August 1947, Page 7

OLYMPIC GAMES

CLAIMS OF W. J. WELLS EFFORTS TO QUALIFY P.A. WANGANUI, Aug. 16. W'. J. Wells, the New Zealand crosscountry championship winner at Auckland, has unsuccessfully attempted to arrange a meeting in Australia over 10,000 metres with the Australian brothers, George and Don Campbell. His new manager, Mr W. J. Carr, of Wanganui, has received a reply to a cablegram he sent to the Campbells, stating: “George is resting and Don is preparing for a marathon. Sorry, cannot meet Wells.” In view of Wells’s record fast times and decisive victory over Otago’s W. H. Nelson at the Auckland championships, Mr Carr considers that Wells—not Nelson—should go to the Olympic Games next year. Wells’s principal aim now, he said, was to make the New Zealand team for the games, and he was willing to comply with any requirements set by the N.Z.A.A.A., which would make this possible. ■ v " ~ „ Carr argues that the fact that Wells is a former professional should not influence the position, because there had been at least one previous occasion when an ex-professional represented New Zealand at athletics. Carr also states that Wells has registered time 43see faster than the recently-established Australian residential record for 10,000 metres, which is the Olympic distance. Wells’s best effort over this distance is 45sec slower than the United States record, also recently established. In October Wells may attempt to establish a fresh New Zealand 10-mile , rack record at Wanganui. > . . „ Wells, who is 31 years of age, is a dairy farmer at Tariki, near Stratford.