THE COLONIST. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, JUNE 10, 1912: THE OLYMPIC GAMES.

Colonist, Volume LIV, Issue 13439, 10 June 1912, Page 4

THE COLONIST. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, JUNE 10, 1912: THE OLYMPIC GAMES.

What will bo tho most remarkable athletic ever held commences this month at Stockholm, whither the pick of the woi'ld's prowess in all forms of athletic sport aro betaking themselves to participate in the Olympic Games. Since the revival in 1896 of these ancient Greek contestants, four meetings in which international competitors took part have been held, the last being in London in 1908. On this occasion, however, the representation, will be much wider, and the interest in the events correspondingly greater. Tho j programme will include sports unknown to tho founders of the Olympiad, who confined the games mainly to foot races, but the reward for success remains unaltered, a sprig of olive, tho emblem of prowess. M. P. Adams, in an interesting article on the Olympic Games, says that the idea that the honour of being proclaimed victor was sufficient without any addition is without doubt the basis upon which all amateur sport is founded. "But, generally speaking,". he continues, "this truly amateur spirit is not too well inculcated in the mind of tho youthful amateur. Nowadays the pot-hunting instinct is somehow or other paramount. However, it has been my good fortune to meet many healthy minded and 'sport for sport's sak&' amateur athlotas, and it is certainly a fine thing to realise that in these days when the 'almighty dollar' is such a tremendous factor in all walks of life, there are still* those to be met, with who ask no greater intrinsic reward that tho sprig of olive, so dear to the athlete of old." —A sentiment with which few will be found to disagree. Until the fourteenth Olympiad, 724 8.C., Mr Adams tells us, there was no other contest than running

in tho Stadium. Phiedippides was tho y fastest runner of olden timefc, he having distinguished himself by running from Athens to Sparta, to ask the assistance of the Spartans at tho Battlo of Marathon, 480 8.C., covering 150 miles' in forty-oighty hours. Another great runner of olden time was Ladas, a native of .j33gium, who won the 125 th Olympiad in 180 B.C. In connection with these games, all the races favoured by t>ho Greeks wore contested over short distances ; the longest being about three j and a third miles. Greek history speaks jof soldiers running from Marathon to Athens w itli. news of the groat battlo fought between the Athenians and their Eastern invaders. At tlie 1896 revival jf the Olympiad, held'in the ancient Stadium, a race- called tho Marathon ■ was made a feature of the sports, being run over tho actual road taken, by the soldiers after the Battle of Marathon. An Australian, E. F. Flack, of Melbourne, was among the competitors, but he and the other foreigners taking part found the demeanour of the Greeks who lined tho route so fierce and threatening towards the foreign contestants •th at it was not safe to continue. 0 tlnr 'Australasian representatives took part in various games. The.-next Olympiad was held at St Louis, United States, four years later, and the next again at Athens, Australasia being represented on both occasions. The last games were held, as has been stated above, in London four years ago, when the Australasian representation was stronger than ever previously. This year Australia and New Zealand aro sending athletes to compote in a large variety of eveiits at Stockholm, and their doings will be watched with great interest. Writing of the organisation which governs this great gathering, Mr Adams says that the Olympic Council spreads its tentacles across the civilised universe, and" each individual must bear the hall-mark of his respective.council before he can receive a nomination ; he must necessarily be a bona-fklo amateur in the strict sense of the word before he can engage in this peaceful yet strenuous competition of the nations. "These games will bring into competition the entire and recognised amateur athletic forces of the whole world Great governments are standing behind the various Olympic councils, and in this groat athletic light for supremacy Great Britain, Canada and Australia have locked hands and united as a British Empire team. The games will bo fought as keenly as a Waterloo or a Bunkers' Hill, and yet, as in the days of Daikles, centuries before Christ, the winners' reward will be no greater than tho sprig of olive wreath."