The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. “Luceo Non Uro." SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 1936. Germany Is Host at the Olympic Games

Southland Times, Issue 22957, 1 August 1936, Page 6

The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. “Luceo Non Uro." SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 1936. Germany Is Host at the Olympic Games

To-day the eleventh series of the modem Olympic Games begins at Berlin. Initiated nearly 3000 years ago by the Greeks, this athletic festival was abandoned in 394 A.D. Since then the earth and its inhabitants have greatly changed but the theme underlying the Games is still the same. Athletes meet in friendly rivalry to decide who among them is greatest for feats of strength, speed and skill. The setting of the 1936 Games is far more lavish, the athletes better trained and better equipped and the entries much greater and more representative than they were at the Grecian Olympia. Through the centuries sport has been developed, science has been called to the aid of athletes and training has been taken far more seriously. Grecian champions would stand small chance against twentieth century rivals. It was in 1896 that a French nobleman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, revived the Olympic Games, and in this revival Britain indirectly played a part. The Baron had observed the character-building qualities of the games played at English public schools and from this came his determination to revive the international athletic festival of the Greeks. He found willing collaborators, overcame all opposition, and had the satisfaction of seeing the modern Olympic Games instituted at Athens where the heroes of classic contests had won their laurels twenty centuries before. It was a very modest meeting which was held in 1896, and the performances were much inferior to those of the last Olympic Games at Los Angeles. This is clearly indicated by the fact that the time recorded for the 100 metres at Los Angeles by a Polish girl was faster than that of the man who won in 1896. Tracks have been improved and athletic technique greatly advanced in the last forty years. Paris was entrusted with the second Olympiad, St. Louis (U.S.A.), with the third, and London with the fourth. At London the Englishman’s catholic taste in sport was reflected in a more comprehensive programme than at either Athens or Paris. This rather went beyond Baron Coubertin’s plan, and at Stockholm in 1912 the Games were held on a less ambitious scale. The Great War prevented the holding of the sixth Olympiad, and the seventh of the series, held in Belgium in 1920, was affected by the war years, both in the inability of nations to send athletes and in the discordant happenings at the Games. There was a strong revival of interest at Paris in 1924 and the programme was even more elaborate than that of 1908. The ninth Olympiad at Amsterdam was chiefly notable for the return of Germany to the competition. After the war her athletes had been debarred from entering. The Games of the tenth Olympiad at Los Angeles were a model of organization and the performances "outshone those of previous meetings. Not the least significant part of this festival was the establishment of an Olympic Village, a miniature international township where the people of many nations lived as a happy family. The German hosts of 1936 have adopted this plan of good-fellowship and have enlarged upon it. In a recent speech the German War Minister, General von Blomberg, said:

In this village the representatives of the nations will find possibilities for relaxation and for training for the peaceful contests. They will likewise become acquainted with the spirit and attitude of the new Germany through the hospitality of the army.

It would be useless to deny that Germany hopes the Olympic Games at Berlin will serve the secondary purpose of impressing the representatives of other nations with the force of the Nazi spirit and the efficiency of the Hitler regime. But this should not cause generous commendation to be withheld for the thoroughness of the plans made by Germany to ensure the success of the Games and the comfort of visiting competitors. The streets of Berlin may resound with acclamations for Hitler, Nazism may be too much in evidence and unfortunate incidents may occur. Yet the elaborate preparations and a strong representation from all the leading nations should produce keen competition and outstanding performances. And if international jealousy ,d° es not obtrude, the eleventh Olympiad should fulfil all that Herr Hitler claimed for it in the introduction to Friedrich Mildner’s book “Olympia 1936—Physical Training in the National-Socialist State”: ' Sporting, chivalrous contest arouses the best human attributes. It does not sever, but unites the opponents in mutual understanding and reciprocal respect. It also helps to knit the bond of peace between the nations. Therefore may the Olympic Flame never expire!