OLYMPIC GAMES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17245, 11 January 1924, Page 1

OLYMPIC GAMES.

NEW ZEALAND’S PART. WILL THERE BE A TEAM? A definite anouncement has been made by the New Zealand Olympic t Games Association as to the character of the team that is to be sent from New Zealand to take part in the next Olympic Games to he held in Paris in July. It is proposed to 6end representatives comprising the following sections of sport—held and traok athletice, swimming, rowing and boxing The personnel of the team will not be large, primarily for the reason that the cost of representation will be very heavy and also because there is a remarkable paucity in the Dominion today of athletes of worlds championship class. EARLY FAILURE. Owing, probably, to the fact that few branches of eport possesses exponents of outstanding merit, public interest in the campaign for funds has so far been very slight, and the people throughout New Zealand who have essayed the task of initiating a successful capaign have found themselves faced with a. heart-breaking undertaking. Many sports bodies have been surprisingly apathetic on the subject, and the position a-t one period became so disheartening that the council of the New Zealand Olympic Games Association seriously considered whether it would not be advisable to abandon the effort nltogethei . Proposals on an ambitious scale wen? made at the outset with regard to the raising of funds. The first proposal 1

was an art union, in which prizes aggregating £IOOO would be awarded, and* by which it was expected that a sum of aboqt £6OOO would be raised. Subsequently there was advanced a further proj>osal lor a monster queen carnival throughout the Dominion, designed to raise something in the vicinity of £30,000. sufficient to meet the needs of New Zealand for several Olympiads. Both these schemes were doomed to failure. In order to establish the art union it was necessary to secure sufficient money to deposit with the bank an amount covering the value of the prizes offered. To attain this end an appeal was sent out by the Olympic Council to all the governing bodies of sport in the Dominion, asking them to contribute guarantees sufficient to meet th? sum required. The response was disappointing. not more than, a quarter of the sum needed being guaranteed. It was thus found to be impossible to proceed. A like fate befell the Queen Carnival proposal, for which guarantees are also needed, but again were not forthcoming. A NEW PROPOSAL. A modified proposal, which promises to meet with more success than did its ambitious predecessors, has now been issued by the Olympic Council. Arrangements are being made lor the promotion of an art union in wine the prizes offered will aggregate £l4O. divided as follows:—First £SO, second £25, third £lO, fourth £5, and fifty others of £1 each. In a circular letter to sport* bodies announcing the new scheme. Mr E. C. G. Camp, secretary of the New Zealand Olympic Council, states:—“Tt is particularly requested that a superlative effort be made to dispose of the tickets in view of the immediate necessity to raise sufficient money to ensure this Dominion being adequately represented. The proposal is that all clubs affiliated to the various branches of amateur sport co operate in a united effort for the above purpose. The opportunity is now. and we feel convinced that your organisation will use its best endeavours to help the fund so that our flag shall be flying along with those of other units of the Empire and nations of the world at these great gatherings ” DIFFICULTY KVERYWHERE It is worthy of note that, m both Great. Britain and Australia, great difficulty has been found ill raising the money needed to ensure adequate representation at the Olympic Games. In both countries lengthy campaigns have been carried out, but the results have not been gratifying. The present position ill Australia is indicated by a cable message published a few day« ago. in which it was stated that the consensus of opinion favoured

sending only champions whose brilliancy would ensure success Charlton and Christie in swimming, ancl Carr in atheltics, were mentioned as certain to go. Mr Taylor, president of the Olympic Federation, remarked significantly that there would be no “glory” passages, indicating his concurrence with the view that only first-class athletes would be sent. A tennis team is. not likely, as Victoria has refused to participate in raising funds. In marked contrast to the position in Britain and Australia is that of America, where there never seems to he any paucity of money for Olympic purposes. The Americans fully realise the valuable advertising medium of the Olympic Games, and the wide publicity afforded to the countries sending successful teams. There is a tendency in the Dominion (as there. is also, apparently, in Great- Britain and Australia) to over look the important advertising medium that the Olympic Games offer. One of the greatest advertisements the Dominion has «ret re ceived was given by the 1905 All Black football team. To a lesser extent (be cause its successes have been fewer) t£e. Dominion has gained advertisement. from the small teams it has sent to the Olympic Games. These teams have always been small and have ha«i to compete under the most disadvantageous conditions, due mainly to the shortage of funds and the eleventh-, hour date of their arrival at the scene of the contests At the last Olympic Games. Miss Violet YValrond, then a child of only fifteen years of age. who arrived on the scene at the last minute and had no advantages in the matter of training, coaching or attendance. swam fifth against the finest women swimmers of the world. Tt was a wonderful achievement. and one which should encourage the Dominion, with better material on this occasion than on the last, to do its best to afford its competitors the best possible opportunity to place the New Zealand ensign at the top of the Olympic flagpole

stance the thieves devoted their attention to church properties. Yesterday the sum of £2 was taken from a box in the Roman Catholic Cathedral. Tn another instance a window left open gave access ; this was at St John’s Vicarage, from where £3 wa s stolen yesterday afternoon. Tt is also reported that the Aronside Church has been entered on more than one occasion. Houses in the Aronside district have also come in for unwelcome attention.