THE OLYMPIC GAMES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 20044, 6 September 1920, Page 3

THE OLYMPIC GAMES.

SWEEPING WIN FOR AMERICA. d WINNERS AND THEIR RECORDS. Tho 1920 Olympic; Games have resulted in a sweeping victory for tho Americans, whose total points are more than double the number scored by tho second nation, Finland. Sweden comes next on tho list, with Great Britain one point behind, fourth. The Americans have scored more than the combined points of the next two nations, and they owo their win to tho thorough manner in-which they prepared for. the Games. By a mandate signed by. President Wilson the United States team were conveyed to Antwerp by an American transport. They arrived early, and were trained to the pink of perfection, having had time to accustom themselves to local conditions. Great Britain was Dover thought to have had the least chance of coming out on top, owing to the dilatory manner in which tho matter of selecting and training a team was carried out. Tho Games did not seem to arouse very much interest in England, probably they came too soon alter the war to receive notice from a people who were just settling down to peaceful conditions after going through tho harrowing experiences of five years’ warfare. The Australian athletes attribute their failure to tho fact that they arrived on tho scene too lato to accommodate themselves to local conditions. They were in a strange land and unaccustomed to the food, and, in addition, were without a, trainer for some time. Tho New Zealanders, who arrived at Antwerp after tho Australian team, therefore had a, very small chance of landing any honours, iuul they were probably affected in the same way as the Australians. So ‘hr the only news we have-had of the Games has been the short cable messages giving the results of the various events, hut when the English exchanges of last month, come to hand, they should contain a -great deal of interesting reading for those interested in athletics. For the present, however, comment on tho records of some of the winners of the track and field events is all _ that is possible. Tho winner of the SOO metres (874.4yards) was A. G. Hill, of Great Britain, who covcrod'The distance in Imin 53 2-5 secs- Hill is a--member of lire Polytechnic Harriers, London, and has had a great career. Jn 1810 he won the , English 4 Miles Championship, whilst in_ 1919 he won the SBO yards and Mile Championship. Ho was beaten in the English SBO Yards Championship on July 3 last by B. G. I). Rudd, who ran third in the 800 Metres. Hill scored a second victory later in the' Games wintiing the 1500 Metres (1639.5 yards) in 4miu 1 l-ssec, and the. apprehension that was felt- in England when he was defeated for this year’s Half-mile Championship proved ill-founded. B.'G. D. Rudd, the Oxford captain, who represented South Africa, has been doing great things during the last year, and be was finite expected to bo amongst 1 lie- winners. He won the 400 ( Metros (437 yards 1(3 inches) in 49 3-osee, after a magnificent finish, in which he just heat G. M. M. Butler (United Kingdom), a Cambridge crack who ran second to him in th© English 440 -Yards Championship. Rudd scored a double win in the English Championships, landing both the" 440 and 880 xards. The race, for the latter title was looked upon as the tit-bit of the meeting. Rudd'-.led all the way and stalled off a- string challenge by Hill at the, finish, winning by about "5 yards. After winning the 440 Yards lie assisted tho Achilles Club to win the Relay Race- Hill, by the way. found the effort of racing Rudd too much for him m the 889 and his leg gave way, preventing him from defending his title in the mile. Rudd was responsible for a great run At Franklin Field, America, last May, when the Oxford and Cambridge. team won tho relay rack in record lime. He is a- Rhodes scholar. The 110 Metros Hurdles (1.0 flights, 3ft 6in hurdles) was won in 14 -t-oseo by 1) yards by Earl J. Thompson, representing Canada, who will be remembered as the breaker of the. world’s record for the 120 yards high hurdles at franklin field last Mar, when he was an American University student—at Dartmouth. In that event he cleared the sticks in faultless stylo covering tho distance- in 14 2-oseo, . smashing the collegiats record of losec made by f. S. Murray in 1916, and knocking a, second off the time of the previous recordholder, Lob Simpson, of Missouri, who twice did 14 Sroscc and had held tho title, since 1915. Thompson was later m the aay beaten by 2 yards by W R- ‘'Veils, of Stamford, in the 320 Yards Hurdles, tho winner’s time being 23 4-ssec. Thompson served in the Royal Canadian Air Force (Toronto) during the war. . Americans, if they were sure of nothing el so, were- positively certain that they would win tho sprint events, and in V-- J- Paddock they had an exceptionalfy fine candidate, who won the 190 Metres (109.3 yards) in 10 4-osec m ns secoiidin the 200 Metres. Paddock is a Californian with a grand record m America and in Prance. At f, Liter-Allied Games at the Pershing btaclium, near Paris, on June 26, 1918. he won the 100 Metres in 10 4-osoc and on Juno 28 ho. non the 200 Metros in -l o-.jscc, beating many famous sprinters, both amateur and 'professional, in heso events. Early in July, a fc Ebbels (eld, he equalled Don Lippincott’s norld-s record, 10 3-osoe, for the ICO ale ires, after a. slow start, and Herbert Heed, writing ni the ; ‘New York Eronuig Post, of the event, reckoned that f Imre m to be a, 9 2-o.see man in the hundred in the course of the next two dock ° yC * l *’ thnt rauu wili be FadRichmond W. Laudon america), who captured the Running High Jump ra * lr ? 93 H-10 cent" is a student i- e bmrci'sity and. also a member ot tho New York Athletic (.Tub. Re has been doing great tilings in the' liteh jurnpmg line. hast May he cleaned •’J' ffankiin field, retaining tlieicb\ the inter-title ior that event and ctuning io nituin half an inch of (ho collegiate record, which, however, ho tailed to lower. .J- Myrra (Finland) broke the Olrmpie record when he threw the javelin 6-._ metres 78 cents. With Petmen (f inland), who was second, he was a competitor at Stockholm in 1912. Finland, by tho way, is now the great country for tho making of javelins and Urn production of javelin' throwers. Tho Consul General for Finland in Sydney, Mr Kanrlo P. Nauklcr. who is a good exponent with tho javelin, took a stock of these implements to Australia with him. Myrra’s throw, which works out to 315 ft ORri. made the previous record, 179 f- lOt-in. established by E. V. Leemiug at tho Fourth Olympiad, look very sick. Another record-breaker was found in F. F- Loomis (America), who won the 409 Metres (437.2 yards) Hurdles in olsco, a world’s record- Loomis is a. member of tho Chicago A-A-, and lias on several occasions won championships in UN.A. over low hurdles at 220 yards. ■>. GnillemotefFrancc) who won the oIXa.! M'otres j3 miles ISS yards) in Hrniu 55 3-oscc. and was recond iu the 16,200 Metres, is a member of the Societo General (France), is twenty-one years of age. and practically a find” of this rear., Early in March last ho

crossed .over to England and Avon thff len Miles Gross-country Championship over a heavy course hy 200 yards -in 6min 9 4-ssec. A few days later he captured the French Ten Miles Crosscountry .Championship.-in 61min 4sec. On J uno 20, in. Franco, ho covered 1500 metres in drain 3 2-sscc—-a French record. E. Woodring (America), who, in winning the 200 Metres (218.73yd5) in 22scc, heat the much-fancied Paddock, is a now and comparatively' unknown runner and n member of tlio Moadowhrook Athletic Club (Philadelphia.). At the American Eastern try-outs for the selection of the team Woodring won the 220 yards in 21 4-ssec. Tho Pole Vault went to P. K. Foss (America), a ilWmher of tho Chicago A.Am who on" August 23, 1019. at Chicago, put- up a world’s record of 13ft 3 9-16 in, figures which ho has since beaten. P. Hodge (Great Britain) winner of tho steeplechase (3000 metres) had an easy victory, making the time of lOmiu 0 2-ssec. He is a member of the Surrey Athletic Club and won tho'English TVo-milo Steeplechase in 1910, easily retaining the title this year, although hlo lost some SO yards in stopping to adjust his shoes. P. <V. j.lyau (America), winner of tho 161b Hammer Throw, who threw 63 metres 87 1-3 centimetres, is an Irishman long resident in the States. Ho :s the holder of the American championship, and a member of the Laughliu Lyceum Club, Brooklyn. Ho also won the American championship with the hammer from 1913 to 1917 inclusive, in the colours of the Irish-American Athletic Club of New York. The other weight throwing event,- Throwing 561h NVeight, also went to an Irishman long resident hi America, the famous‘Mato M’Grath, who has won both the 161b hammer and 561b weight throwing championships of America on several occasions, whilst a, member of the IrishAmcncan Athletic Club of New York'. The chief event of tho Games was, of course, the Marathon. Race, 42.75U metres, whicli was run in. the rain. Tho winner was Hanues Kolehmaincn (Finland), who won by 13seo from tho second man, Lossman (Esthouia), in 2hr 32min 35sco. Kolobmainen, who holds many records, has been a great distance runner for ten years. , 11 n effected a remarkable '‘come back” when ho won tho New York Athletic Club’s try-out Marathon of 26) miles (for tho selection of the American team), in 2]ir 47 mm 4!) l-osec, under very disheartening conditions. Tho course was very muddy, rind Kolehmaincn had not previously run a long distance for two years, va that his time was remarkably good. Ho was nearly half a mile in advance of tho second man, although be did not go to tho front until the twenty-fifth mile, and ho was by no means “dead heat ” at the end of the race. The 10,000 Metres (6 miles 376 yds) Run, was won by Parko Nurmi (Finland), in 31min 4-5 4-ssec. Nurmi, who also finished second in tho 5000 Metres, is a new man, and his biggest win before the Games was in Juno last, when ho ran 3000 metres in Bmin 36 l-sscc, which was a Finnish record, and an excellent performance. In conclusion, it may he said that the International -Olympic Committee has decided that for tho nest Games, which will take place in 192-1,.0u1y purely athletic snorts, such as running, swimming, wrestling and boxing, will count, though other contests will he included in tho programme. The programme and site for the Games will be fixed at a meeting at Lausanne, in Juno, ,1921. An present it seems as if one of three places, Rome, Paris and Los Angeles will bo selected as tho locale for tho Games, hut there is nothing to show which will bo the- most likely; to be selected. ' ' ■