The Wanganui Chronicle TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 1928. THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20106, 27 March 1928, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 1928. THE OLYMPIC GAMES

'pHE New Zealand Olympic Council is disappointed at the result of its appeal for assistance in raising a fund sufficient to send a team of athletes to the Olympic Games at Amsterdam.

The smallness of the response bears its own significance. It can only be regarded as expressive of a doubt on the part of the public respecting the value of participation in these international events. The strongly unfavourable verdict on the Olympic Games that was passed a few days ago by a. prominent London journal may be taken at least as an indication that in the Old Country there is a certain amount of misgiving respecting the merits of these international competitions and the desirability of their encouragement.

The public has probably not quite forgotten .that the last Olympiad was productive of some unedifying scones and a good deal of international friction—productive, that is to say, of an atmosphere entirely different from that which should prevail when athletes from the various countries of the world are competing in friendly rivalry. But the chief cause of the lack of support which the New Zealand Olympic Association laments must be the feeling that the benefits derivable from the sending of a small party of selected competitors from this country to the other side of the world would not be commensurate with, the expenditure which the scheme must involve. The Association’s ambition has been to raise £lO,OOO for the purpose of sending a team of perhaps 20 athletes to Amsterdam. This works out at £5OO per head. The idea was no doubt a bold one, but the Association was calculating upon an enthusiasm for the project among sports bodies and the public which has distinctly failed to reveal itself. Such a result is really not very surprising. Even among those who are closely in touch with athletics in the Dominion there has been a marked apathy towards the effort to secure the participation of New Zealand at the Olympic Games. There is always the possibility that the desire to have this country represented in all descriptions of international sports may be carried further than is warranted by the calibre of the proposed contestants—a mistake which a small community is somewhat likely to make.