STARTING BLOCKS ALLOWED FOR N.Z. ATHLETES

Southland Times, Issue 23634, 8 October 1938, Page 14

STARTING BLOCKS ALLOWED FOR N.Z. ATHLETES

Falling into line with the general practice elsewhere starting blocks will be permitted at all Dominion athletic meetings this year. The International Amateur Athletic Federation agreed some time ago to sanction their use, and the New Zealand Association was wise to follow in the federation’s footsteps, says The Christchurch Star-Sun. These blocks obviate the use of trowels by competitors for digging footholds. Actually, their use is being permitted only to expedite meetings, but they must assist sprinters to make a perfect start, especially on a heavy ground. Therefore, they. will.help the sport to go ahead. Any records made by athletes using starting blocks will, of course, be legitimate.

OWENS AND TOLAN MAY COME TO NEW ZEALAND S ' i . ■ ■ ' There is every possibility that the Negro runners, Jesse Owens, greatest of all sprinters and broad jumpers, and Eddie Tolan, winner of the 100 and .200 metres events at the 1932 Olympic Games, will visit Australia dirring the coming summer, according to A.: L. Fitch, the American coach who is in Wellington. ’ - 1 Both Owens and Tolan have expressed their willingness to race in Australia. Tolan has been there before, He won the world’s professional sprint title in Victoria in 1935, and the idea is that he should defend his crown next season against Owens, the leading Australians, and possibly one or two of the best English professionals. They would be a tremendous attraction, and Fitch believes that Owens and Tolan anyway would not require very much inducement to appear in New Zealand also. Certainly an effort should be made if the time factor does not present undue difficulty. The appearance of two such distinct personalities in the world of sport would be the most interesting development in professional athletics in this country since the visit, just before the war, of those two great Australians, the late Jack Donaldson and Arthur Postle, says a Wellington writer. Cash running is pretty well “on the blink” in the Dominion today, but if any promoter cared to take a chance, and succeeded in getting Owens and Tolan to come here, it is not likely that he would regret his enterprise. He might even be able to impress Fitch into service.

If the prospect of professional meetings alone did not appeal, there is some precedent for the staging of combined amateur and professional gatherings, with each phase subject to separate control.