OLYMPIC GAMES.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1491, 13 July 1912, Page 5

OLYMPIC GAMES.

SUCCESSES. , CAUSTIC COMMENT ON THfi , FAILURE. AMERICANS LEAr/ING. By Tclelrya.pli-Press AEeocfMion-nopyriKlit JRoa. .Tnly. 12, V/M p.m.) . Stockholm, July 12. Tho f,.incricaiLi? agavn prcdoniinalcd ill most rt* the preliminary, rounds'at Uiq Olym p?io Gnmes. Go al.dini; (Cana.rttv) won the IO.COO nu-JTCs wall , ; in'4Gmin.,27 3-ssec. •,. ; I , hly won the. gymnastic disjplny, Great Br ytain coming third. ' . W. Lougnxirtli, tlio Sydnoy champion 6 frframor, did not contest the ihials, owing 1 h ear trouble. His condition is not danpvrous, and ho is recovering. Harold Hardwick (Sydney) won his lieat in'tlifl 100 metres ewimnung race- ia Smin. liCseu. Mnlcolai Champion' (New. Zealand) swam eccoikl in Smin.i 37scc. ■,-, TnrtakoVer (ex-Sydupy) did not finish' in the foinit-K heat. . ; Miss Baniiy Duraclc aiid Miss " Mina Wylie (both of New South Wales) won th'cir sejoi-finals of tho 100 metres ■ in lmin. 20 l-ssoc. and-.lmin. 27 d-s;cc. respectivet/. Cecil Ilealy (Australia) won his heat in the 40fl iucltcs swimming Aico in tho record time of smiu. SJsoc. 1 L. Bdardmnn .(Australia) was scratched. Ttoe- Australian rowing crew is practising ■satisfactorily orer the courso.

BRITISH MEN NOT SERIOUS. SOME CRITICISM. (Bee. July 12, 10.45 p.m.) London, July 12. Mr. Thomas, ex-prasidcnt of tho Oxford University, Athletic Club, writing in tho "Daily Mail," caustically criticises tho British team at Stockholm. Ho toys tlio other nations except Britain regard tho Olympic Games seriously, and the A'meri-S oans havo won their unprecedented nnil ■remarlcalilo victories by their cletormiiiation and sheer merit, incoin : patenco is largely duo to a lack of organisation. "The "Pall Hall GazdW , points out that America aims at producing specialists, while Britain devotes her attention to nilround men. One fine all-round atlilolie like C B. Fry, ndds tho paper, is worth more than a score of semi-professional specialists. . ' ■ ' ,

BRITISH ANri AMERICAN TEAMS. THE JCEN AT WORK. Australasia has sent to represent her in tho athletic ovvuts, turbo men-I'oullor, Hill, nnd Mu'.Tay. Tho first-named (writes Olympic,' .-ji. .tho Sydney "Telegraph") is a good runner, but lie has never had the caro and attention that has been' given to, tiiy, the Irish-Gimadian Marathon runnt/,—Corkery. Neither ' has . ho had the lrAjlring after such as is bestowed upon Mi /ce Ryan, of America. And ho has novc , T specialised. at tho distance to tno t sair/o extent as. Sl , Arthur, of SoutU Africa. Tho men. named aro all in'tlio first, ol Ass. As to Hill, ho is a pro- ' raising man. , Ho. has very fino performance j in his own country. But he has newjr known wliat it is to bo kept moving 'nil'.tho wny by a Imin. lSsoc. inner. Hill, «'«lcr goad American hands, would g<) very close to this time. But ho has not UDPii under American hands, aiyl tlmr makes all tho dilferenco. ■ Ho will meet men , 'who have.been well coached \in tho land flf the almighty dollaa , , and Will bo at a, disadvantage when up against them. Mnrvay is a walW, who holds the.world's, mile, record, llightv at his top lio miprht bo equal to winning the event, in which ho strips. ';'..■. Wic South Africans will bo represented by several good men. They are not tho 'kjunl of the 1908 team, however, Rcptsio Yvalkcr, llcffernan, and one or two other, real top-notchers, vera members of that • team. In this year's team is Patching, a man who has a great chance of cap--.hiring' the short sprint at' Stockholm. In London ho beat the best England, could put in. the field in tho fast time of 9 i-ssec. His most dangerous opponents' at the Olympiad will l;o Craig, of America, Mid Kau, of Germany. Still, if. he can-repeat his London run it ehoiild just about land him a winner. In M'Arthur, the Springboks will be represented by a fine, heady, and classy Marathon, man. His performances for years have been, of tho classy order- from "10 miles up-, wards. Judging from the • performance put up byGitsham, another South African, in the Marathon trial in England last month, M'Arthur's chance of victory in tho classic raco looks really good, lie is considered a greatly superior runner to Gitsham, yet the latter..fcept: Corkery,. ■of Canada, going all tho' way. ■■-.'■ : ■ Canada does not appear to have a very, s'rt-ong lot to represent her. \ Kcrr is past iiis prime, and will be no tjpod for the 'sprints. Tho hope in this direction appears to lie in Beasley, of Vancouver, who. is supposed to be a Ftiuiul eveiitimer. Hal-, bans, of Toronto, will bs the parleirmiler, and as ho is good for B0 or perhaps better, should keep tho very best of them moving all tho way. Knos and Brock , , are tho middle distance men, and Tnit will strip in the mile. All are good men, but-hardly in world's champion does." Gill is, a Vancouver policeman, is expected to ho a trump card, and should do really well in the fit-Id games. Gcorgo Goulding, tho public idol, is regarded (is tin absolute certainly for tho 'Walks, but tho Cann r dian may get a great shock in this direction. Even if Goulding is not .beaten, there is rf'big chance.of tho judges being against him. His ntyle has not pleated all tho critics in his own country, and no one knows what the Swedish officials' nfay. do. , Tho Marathon representatives of tho Maple .Leaf o,re Do Mar and Cork-' cry—a capable pair. . ■'.' ■ . Great; Britain will bo*represented by over r(! men in tho athletic.eveuts.. It is, iiHk'cd.hard'lo pick out tho'best men lor,' tho .various events.. The.sprints will depend noon good performances from lI , Mil-: lan and Applegarth. ■ Scedhouso nnd Xicol seem to bo the best of the umldlc-distnneo mon. Mann, Sputter, and Baker aw a eolid trio for tho.SflOmetres event. Cot-, trill, M'Nicoll, and Hare., are tho ltiHcrc, but aro hardly el«?.s enough to- secure first honours. Tho jSOUO metres lvico' will fee. Eddie Owen, one. of the finest runners liiig: land has produced,, too the mark. Ilaniuvi Kolohmaiuen,' tho Finn, will bo, with Georgo Bonhajf, of America, Owen's most serious opponents, and (he race should bo ivortli going a long way to fee. Jlany good men have been selected for other events, inohiding E. J. Webb, tho once great walker. AVnether there are linnny wjiincra in Grent Britain's lot remains to be seen. ;Js6w,\to coma to the .Americans. -X«v<?r, before. have the Yankees displayed -Mii'li activity in athletic circles as has b'ceii; thb enso this year. The land of (lio Stars and -Stripes is wonderfully'rich-in fli'stclass'talent, r.nd,-defeat will '.lot bp heard of by the'Ainerican coaches... Yankee papers,' discussing tho prospects at' (no Games, say tlrafc the 1O0I) njetrcs walking ovent is , tho only nthlclic ite:ii tlmt is wit'likely to have point scorers. Accordine to the expert?, points av? certain in all other events. Aud'when one .vets such names 6s Craig, Davenport, ,T. P; Joiies, Melvin Shcppard, ■ Harry- Wismng,. .AM Kiviat, Geome BonhaU,-M. Ryan, Smithion, Shaw; Horino,, l.awvenoe, aii'd Plat.t Adams, there is reason to. lipliovo much that is read of tho team. Then we luff Balpli Hose, the brilliant field ganies man; Mat. M'Gro.th. another, big .man; an'd JEnrtin Sheridflai. On top of Ihrsi avs a host of other lerar lights, all «f whom linvo" records that would put alhlclos of smno other countries right in tho shade.. The meeting of Melvin Sheppard , and Jones, of Amnrion, and Braun (tiorinany). ond Maim (Great Britain), in the tiOll metres race, should bo memorable. Taken right through it must be admitted that American thoroughness and specialisation have fi big advantage, over th<v other nation 9 represented. Tho very bc:;t men will represent them, and tho performances of many of them rend almost too good to bo (irua. They are. accepted, however, and this foot clone would sftm lo point to America as tlrogreateet athletic xmtlon f>t tho tinuo* ,'