OLYMPIC POSSIBILITY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19523, 24 June 1933, Page 16

OLYMPIC POSSIBILITY

FORM OF METCALFE If he retains the form which enabled him to break the Australian high jump record by clearing 6ft s:tin at the in-ter-’varsity sports at Sydney J. P Metcalfe (Sydney) should be a distinct Olympic and Empire Games possibility. Australia has never been represented in the high jump at an Olympiad, but Mr. H. R. Weir, secretary of the V.A.A.A.. thinks that if an Olympic team were to be chosen to-morrow Metcalfe would have stronger claims for inclusion than any other athlete in Australia (says the ’Sporting Globe’). Metcalfe is the first Australian successfully to use the American “Western roll” method of high jumping. Australian jumpers have been slow to adopt the roll as popularised by the American Osborne, who holds the world’s record high jump of 6ft 81in. Their failure in this respect has precluded them from challenging America’s high jump supremacy. When he won the inter-’varsity high jump at Melbourne last year Metcalfe jumped in the orthodox “straight leg” fashion, but he has since mastered the “roll,” which he employed with such success at Sydney. D. M’Naughton won the high jump at the last Olympic Games with a leap of 6ft 5.5-Bin, which is only three-eights of an inch better than Metcalfe’s effort. Had conditions been in his favour, Metcalfe might have equalled M’Naughton’s performance, but as it was he was. farced to jump on a track made sodden by heavy overnight rain. Metcalfe has improved steadily since he won the intervarsity high jump last year, and should this improvement be maintained he will stand an excellent chance’ of scoring Australia’s first Olympic high jump victory.