OLYMPIC GAMES

Southland Times, Issue 19294, 12 July 1924, Page 6

OLYMPIC GAMES

MANY RECORDS ESTABLISHED

FINN’S MARVELLOUS ACHIEVEMENTS

THURSDAY’S CONTESTS. AMERICA AND FINLAND GAIN MOST PLACES. PARIS. July 10. (Received July 11, 9 p.m.) The Olympic Games were continued today, the weather again being fine and there being present a huge concourse of people representative of every competing nation. To-day’s results are:— 1500 METRES. * —Final.— Nurmi (Finland! 1 Scharai (Switzerland) .. 2 Stallard (Britain) . •• 3 Time, 233 2-ssec, which is an Olympic record. The super-man, Nurmi, appeared in two finals in the space of half an hour. He jumped out in the final of the 1500 metres again carrying his stop-watch. The crowd was most amused when, at the end of the second lap. he threw the watch on the grass, sped away from his opponents and won easily bv ten metres. The Englishman, Stallard, though suffering intensely from a tightly-bound injured foot, threw off the American’s challenge and finished amazingly. He faltered at the winning post and was carried off unconscious. He received an ovation for his heroic effort. 5000 METRES. —Final. — Nurmi (Finland* 1 Ritola (Finland).. - ..2 Wide (Sweden) 3 Roming (America) .. •• 4 Sepalla (Finland) .. •• 5 Clibborn (Britain) .. • • 6 Time. 14min 31 l-ssec. which is an Olympic record. 400 METRES. In the final round. Wilson (America), won a heat with Norman (Australia) second. Carr (Australia* did not complete the journey. Horner (Australia was third in his heat, just failing to qualify. Betts, the South African, brilliantly won his heat in 49 4-ssec. Other heat winners were the Africans Dunstan and Oldfield, the Americans Robertson, Wilson. Taylor and Fitch; also Liddell and Butler. Later in the day Norman was eliminated in the semi-final. . . In the semi-finals, Betts (South Africa) was a dashing winner, while Praulamau (Holland* and Imback (Switzerland) were also successful. Imback won his heat in 48sec, which is a world's record. Lane, the Melbourne Grammar School champion, fought every yard against the Frenchman in his heat. He was beaten by two feet for second place, and did not qualify. HAMMER THROWING. —Final. — Tootell (America) .. .. 1 McGrath (America) .. .. "2 Nokes (Britain) 3 Distance: 53.295 metres. Nokes threw 48.74. POLE JUMP. —Final.— Barnes (America) .. .. 1 Graham (America) .... 2 Brookes (America) .. .. 3 Height: 3.80 metres. Barnes and Graham tied in the first instance, clearing 3.95 metres, thus equalling the Olympic record. Graham failed to reach 3.80 metres in the jump off. The winner, Barnes, is a schoolboy. POLO. - Final.—* The score was 15 points to 1. POINTS TO DATE. The points scored to date are:— America 177 Finland 103 Britain 46 A Sweden 34 A France 18! Switzerland 10 Hur.garv 7 A South Africa 5 Norway 4 New Zealand 4 THE WALKING CONTESTS. Jr Brockman, chairman of the walking ju iges points out that the Australasian ci unition of heel and tee differs from the Olympic. He v.as. most reluctant to endorse -ten’s disqualification, but all th? judges a .eed thereon. The second heat of the 10,000 metres v ik has been postponed till to-morrow, the ; iges re.’v. ; ng to adjudicate and others EMPIRE TEAM FOR AMERICA. Carr (Australia) ha« accepted an invita- » »n to join the Empire team against America in London on July 19. Austen (Britain) declined the invitation tc attempt :• three hours’ walk record at iS ame meeting. He states that he is b ken-heartcd and probaßly will not ap•EAT> AT SWIMMING ENCLOSURE. Serious allegations are made of favouritism by th? French in preference of allocation of seats at the swimming enclosure. Many Australians stood in a queue daily and were unsuccessful in getting seats. Mr A’oss took up the grievance and succeeded in getting a few inferior seats, but many were disappointed. BREAKDOWNS OF AUSTRALIANS. There is much discussion regarding the numerous breakdowns of the Australians. Oi tside cxj>erts ascribe these to errors in their training methods. WORLD’S SUPER MAN. FINN S GREAT PERFORMANCE. WINS ACHIEVED AND RECORDS BROKEN. PARIS, July 10. (Received July 11. 11 p.m.) The sensation of the Olympic Games is the marvellous achievements of the Finnish runner, Nurmi, who is 27 years of age and trains himself. All the competitors acclaim him as the world’s greatest runner. His two wins and two records after a very brief spell are without parallel. He is fairheaded, almost frail, and a building contractor. He runs with his shoulders hunched up and forearms horizontal. In the last lan of the 5000 metres he consulted hi.-- watch’and set off at terrific speed. He won by a yard, looking round. An outstanding feature is the success of th? Finns in the long-distance races, which they ascribe to the lack of railways in their country and the necessity for walking and running lietween the villages. Their diet is of the simplest nature —plenty of milk, wholemeal bread and porridge, supplies of which, and also water, were specially brought to Paris. When asked the cause of their success, the Finns ascribed it to their physical fitness and laughingly remarked that Finland was a dry country and there weie no cabajeki tjiijickaiQoeEa-,

A DRAMATIC INCIDENT. WITHDRAWAL OF ITALIANS. (Sun Special.) LONDON, July 3. It was feared yesterday that a duel might follow the dramatic withdrawal of the members of the Italian Olympic fencing team from their match with France at the Velodromo d’Hiver. When France was leading by three to one, the judges decided a disputed point in favour of GFaudin, the French captain, who engaged Boni, the Italian captain. The Italians protested against the decision, abandoned the match, and left the ground singing a Fascist song. It was stated that Boni intended to send seconds to Gaudin, holding that the Italians were the yightful winners of the event. Boni said that the only method of deciding the contest was by “a duel on the field of honour.’’ There was a strong movement, as the result of the unsportsmanlike scene to disqualify Italy in all six fencing events. The singing of the Fascist song was greatly resented. The trouble was. settled to-day, according to a message from Paris. The Italians apologised, and members of the team will now be allowed to participate in the individual fencing competitions. The threatened duel between the leaders of the two teams is off. THE NATIONS MEET. WORLD’S GREATEST SPORTING CONTESTS. Various events having to do w r ith the VIII Olympiad have beeen decided, and in their different ways may be said to have served well as preliminaries to what, for a popular point of view, are the games proper. On Saturday, however, began what promises to be a round of sport without parallel. Then, in the Stadium, at Colombes, which is within easy striking distance of Paris, the Prince of Wales, who is accompanied by Prince Henry, took the salute from the picked athletes of 42 nations; from then on, for many days, the splendid youth of all the countries will do battle for honour and glory. George Andre, a great all-rounder in days that have gone —a magnificent runner, a dashing, daring Rugby footballer he was—took an oath by which the army of men who set out on parade before His Royal Highness pledge themselves to observe and conserve the true spirit of sport in each and every battle they engage. And the oath by which this fine, upstanding son of France committed each and every competitor tells of the inner meaning, the purpose of the Olympic Games, which is, to try, through the medium of sport in its many and varied phases, to establish a common, a worldwide understanding on all matters that go to make up the scheme of things which we call life. A POINT FOR CRITICISM. But having thus acknowledged the athletic importance of the Olympic Games and the world-wide interest that they naturally arouse, certain considerations may be suggested which at least give scope for differences of opinion. In the first place all such competitions, while they undoubtedly promote the growth of athletics and encourage “sport” in the loose sense of the term, are always open to the criticism that they tend to make the preparation for such contests too much of a strenuous business, and in the eyes of very many besides the actual competitors to render what after all is only a form of amusement the most serious object of life. It is extremely difficult to draw the line between healthful and desirable relaxation on the one hand and assiduous devotion to games to the exclusion of all more important considerations. Hut though the whole distinction is a matter of degree, it is quite legitimate to exercise one’s judgment on such matters; and in the opinion of many experienced and keenly interested observers in many branches of modern athletics, far too many men and women pass beyond the limits of reason if not of safety. Without making invidious comparisons, it can be said that the popular absorption in all forms of sport displayed by the vast crowds that gather to witness allkinds of public sports in New Zealand and Australia, and the deadly earnestness with which the American athletes train and prepare for competitions, are symptoms which may well engage the earnest attention of those interested in the diagnosis of social evils and social maladies. OLD GRECIAN FESTIVAL. It happens curiously enough that the text for -these remarks provides some sort of historical justification for these views. For ever 2000 years ago, when Greece w’as at the summit of her glory and the Olympic Games were periodically the rallying point for all patriotic Greeks from all quarters of the civilised world, those who observed the signs of the times most carefully, often declared that the Great Games fostered athleticism at the expense of far too many civic and social virtues. Euripides, the great dramatist, Socrates, “the wisest of men,’’ and many another representative of the best and highest development of Greek culture, from time to time inveighed against the tendency of athletes and their admirers to subordinate all the serious duties and responsibilities of life to the attainment of muscular strength and physical fitness, and even Alexander the Great in later days is said to have despised athleticism. Perhaps the wisdom of the ancients in this connection is still worthy of serious consideration. RACIAL RIVALRIES. But it may be as well to point out that these great contests had a meaning and a purpose which cannot be claimed for the Olympic Games to-day. For the original Olympic Games were purely national competitions in which only men of pure Greek blood might take part, and these great anniversaries were celebrated largely with the object of stimulating patriotic sentiment and strengthening national feeling. But the Olympic Games to-day are- international; and the competitions in which athletes from all countries engage provide only too many opportunities for the display of those racial prejudices and the national rivalries which have done so much in the past to impair the amicable relations that should exist between civilised peoples, and thus to jeopardise the world’s peace. The records of the modern Olympic Games supply many instances very much to the point, and thus provide ample material for serious reflection. THE GREAT STADIUM. The stadium at Colombes has been entirely rebuilt for the games, and provision made to accommodate 60,000 spectators round the great bowl-shaped arena. The stadium, one of the biggest in existence, measures 382 yards long by 272 yards broad, which is nearly twice the size of the Athens stadium, at which the Olympic Games were first revived, in 1896. The race track is nearly 550 yards in circumference, by 81 yards in width. Outside the stadium itself are tennis courts and a swimming bath, 544 yards long by 30 yards wide, with a depth of water varying from Oft to 16feet. The State railways and the municipal enterprises which control the tramways and omnibuses have combined to draw up plans which will

sengers an hour between Colombes and Argenteuil, and new roads have been constructed between Paris and the stadium. The athletes are lodged in two villages specially built for them, while an official lodging service has been set up to find rooms for visitors in hotels, flats and private houses. PORRITTS SUCCESS. A. E. Porritt went to England in August of last year as a New Zealand Rhodes Scholar, and although having to commence his training on the track at the end of the winter season he has, says the Evening Post, made exceptionally good progress as his latest fine performance indicates. He is a son of Dr. Porrit of Wanganui, and was educated at Wanganui College and later was a student at the Otago University. He first came into prominence as an athlete of class by defeating L. A. Tracey (Wellington) in the 100 yards event at the New Zealand University championships at Auckland in 1922. At the same meeting he was second to Tracey in the 220 yards event, and brought off a surprise by defeating Buckhurst (Canterbury) in the 120 yards hurdles. In the following season he appeared as an Otago representative in the New Zealand amateur athletic championships at Athletic Park, Wellington, and registered a very fine performance by running third to Kirksey (U.S.A.), and “Slip” Carr (Australia) in the memorable 100 yards contest. He was also third to C. J. Krogness (U.S.A.) and H.-E. Wilson (Wellington) in the notable 120 yards hurdles event at the same meeting. Porritt was a very successful competitor at ’the New Zealand University championships during Easter of last year. He won the 100 yards in lOsec, the 220 yards in 23sec, the 120 hurdles in 16 l-ssec, and the broad jump by clearing 22ft. In England his progress has been wonderful. He started off by winning at Balliol College and then at the Oxford University sports. He was second in the 100 yards, competing as Oxford’s second string in the Oxford-Cambridge contest. He was also second in the short sprint and a little later he won the 100 yards event at the Achilles Club’s meeting. Porrit competed at the recent English championships and was third in the furlong race. The merit of these performances is made greater by the fact that Porritt had been suffering from an injured shoulder sustained while playing football. From what Porritt has accomplished it is evident that New Zealand possesses athletes who, if provided with fair opportunities for training in the Old Country, would meet with quite a measure of success in competing with the representatives of other countries at the Olympic Games. L. A. Tracey, in particular, might have proved himself to be among the world’s best furlong sprinters. Mr A. T. Davies (Chairman of the New Zealand Olympic Council), in briefly commenting upon Poritt’s performance, said that the result would be exceedingly pleasing to all athletes, and the Olympic Council intends to forward to Porritt a cablegram of congratulation, not only on behalf of the Olympic authorities in New Zealand, but also on behalf of the Dominion. While recognising that Porritt would do his best, it was not anticipated that he would not gain such prominence in the final considering that he was competing against the present world’s champions. Mr Davies added that it was very satisfying to see the 100 yards event won by a Britisher after the long run of successes by the Americans. The performances of both Abrahams and Porritt were indeed a pleasant surprise.