BRITISH TITLE WON FOR SEVENTH TIME

Southland Times, Issue 23610, 10 September 1938, Page 15

BRITISH TITLE WON FOR SEVENTH TIME

The way jn which the airman, D. O. Finlay, retains his form as a hurdler is remarkable. For the seventh time he has just won the British championship, and under more favourable conditions I think he would have set up a new world’s record, says the London correspondent of The Christchurch Star-Sun, writing on August 10. Within

a few days previous to this performance, he had contested as many as 15' events in the Air Force championships, but the exertions which these entailed

left him as fresh as ever, and in spite of the extreme slowness of the White City track, and the sultriness of the weather, he equalled the British record of 14.4 sec, which was set up by the Olympic champion, F. G. Towns.

It was a great meeting, in which Italian athletes came over in force, and captured as many as six titles. One of the most famous visiting competitors was the Dutchman, M. B.- Osendarp, who was third in the Olympic 100 and 200 metres, and proved that he is still the fastest sprinter in the world, apart from the United States negroes. Unfortunately neither of the English runners, C. B. Holmes, nor A. W. Sweeney, was able to compete, but I do not think they could have matched the speed of Osendarp, who was successful in 9.Bsec.

The chief attraction was the mile, in which S. C. Wooderson retained his title without difficulty. His supreme confidence was reflected by the fact that he took the lead at the end of half a mile, as though he were impatient to set a hotter pace. This is the first time that he has pursued these tactics. Usually he conserves his energy to make a supreme burst at the finish. On this occasion, however, he was content to remain in front, and only in the last 50 yards did he sprint to establish a lead of eight yards. His time of 4min 13.4 sec was nearly a second outside his championship best of last year, but it was still a most convincing performance. The Italian Olympic champion of 1932, Luigi Beccali, had come over to challenge Wooderson, but he was well beaten in the last lap.

The three miles was another race with a thrill, though the time was not exceptionally fast. The first three men finished with only one and a-half seconds between them, C. A. J. Emery getting the better of Peter Ward, who, I believe, would have won if he had timed his effort more successfully. But the loudest cheer of all was for the Marathon winner, J. W. Beman, who is over 40 years of age, and the father of six children. He completed the 26 miles in 2hr 26min 39sec, and finished four minutes in front of the second man, E, .O’Sullivan.