NEW ZEALANDERS FIT

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 417, 27 July 1928, Page 9

NEW ZEALANDERS FIT

OLYMPIC GAMES TEAM ALL GOING STRONG (United P.A. —By Telegraph, — Copyright) CAustralian and N.Z. Press Association.) (United Service) LONDON, Thursday. The New Zealand representatives for the Olympic Games, which are to be commenced on Saturday at Amsterdam, are fit and well. The boxers, E. Morgan and A. Cleverly, are going strong and are much improved, especially Cleverly. They had good sparring practice with Joe Bloomfield and Ernie Rice yesterday. Competent critics say they cannot see them beaten. Morgan will fight in the welter class, as he now weighs lOst 41b when stripped. This will not be a disadvantage, as the welter-weight competitors are not usually as strong as the light-weights. The swimmers are going along well, and D. P. Lindsay has much improved. Misses Miller and Stockley are working hard, but so far have met with little competition. Moorhouse is also swimming well. W. G. Kalaugher has decided to spend his vacation in Amsterdam, so he will be included in the team. He will compete in the 110 metres hurdles race and the hop, step and jump. Dr. E. A. Porritt has strained a tendon in a joint, and may be unable to do himself justice. FAULTY TRACK AN EXPERT’S CRITICISM STADIUM TOO SMALL? (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) (United Service) AMSTERDAM, Thursday. Because of the national objection to Sunday sport Queen Wilhelmina will not open the Olympiad on Saturday. The Prince Consort, Prince Henry, will officiate at the opening ceremony. A track construction expert, Kreigsman, who was summoned to Holland to advise regarding the Olympic track, confirms criticisms of it. He says it is built on a faulty basis. The substrata are so hard that all elasticity is knocked out of it, and part of the top layer is crumbling and uneven. Moreover, he says it bends too sharply for record times to be made in the 200 and 400 metres races. If the drought continues the track will otherwise be in tip-top condition, but if it rains the track is likely to cut up badly. The Olympic authorities are also considerably alarmed as to whether the stadium will accommodate the spectators who are anxious to visit the games. The stadium will accommodate only 25,000, and the city is filling up with members of all nationalities. The demand for tickets is far beyond expectations. Six hundred newspaper men alone have applied for tickets.