THE OLYMPIC GAMES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1707, 26 March 1913, Page 10

THE OLYMPIC GAMES.

GERMAN PREPARATIONS. "WE SHALL STAKE EVERYTHING ON Carl Diem, president of the German Amateur Athletic Union and general sec■retary of tho 'Sixth Olympiad, Berlin, lfllfi, writes us follows ill the "Daily Mail":— The decision of the International Olympic Committee to held the Sixth Olympiad at Berlin in 191G <lid not find Germany unpraiKired. _ Only a short time before, building and financial plans had been completed for the erection of the Bei'liu, Stadium, which guarantees the next world contest in athletics a worthy setting. In its general lilies the Berlin Stadium will most nearly approach the Stadium erected at Shepherd's Bush i'or the London Olympiad. It is located in the Gruimwald, the beautiful forest on. the'western outskirts of Berlin, in the exact middle of the racecourse'of the Berlin Jockey j Club. Tho Stadium's normal seating' capacity will be 27,000, but it will bo so constructed as to make room for many thousands more if necessary. The cost of the Stadium is. estimated af; £112,500, which has been raised from private sources. 1 ' j Tho formal dedication of the Stadium will take place on > June 8. The German athletic world purposes embracing this opportunity for paying .homage to tho Kaiser oit the twenty-fifth'jubilee of liis reign. To that end the athletic and gymnastic organisations of provincial towns and cities will send delegations totalling 10,000 men, whilo Greater Berlin itself will appear with an additipnal 20,000. Thus it is hoped that a. procession of 30,000 athletes will march ill serried ranjts before the Imperial box alid doff their caps and banners to tlio Emperol. The formal dedicatory ceremonial over, the Stadium will henceforth ~bo given over exclusively to .preparation, for the Olympic events of iSHG. Organisation work, of course,' lias long.been ill progress,.

The Games to Cost £75,000 . The idea of the Olympic Games has in the course of time expanded far beyond its original proportions. 'Nothing; indicates that mere plainly than the faqt that the, London Games cost .£15,000; and that the cost of the "Berlin Games is estimated at .£75,000. This latter sum includes, of course, considerable outlay for training of teams of all 1 sorts, which are to be' prepared in"the very best possible maimer. The Gaines themselves ?' will naturally not produce revenue sufficient to cover the sum above-mentioned. It will be mot, therefore, by subsidies from the Imperial German and Prussian Governments, as well as from the municipal treasury of, Bprlin. From among the 2,soo,ooo'German athletes and gymnasts who are represented by the Imperial German Committee for Olympic. Sports wo propose to find athletic talent capable of meeting any com-' petition at Berlin in 1916. It will be discovered by a long and regular series of elimination com petitions throughout the country, including -games in : tho .army., and among the boys and young men leaving the schools and gymnasia. Wherever found desirable, athletic and sporting life in foreign countries will bo thoroughly and systematically investigated in order to learn and borrow the best methods employed abroad. In certain prospect is a "study trir>" to tlio United States, where such amazing progress and successes in all branches of outdoor sports hiive been achieved. Germany has made 'long strides in sport in recent years,, but in respect of special training, as perfecte'd in America, we have still much to learn.

Why Germany Wants to Win. In Germany special steps liavo been taken to prevent'athletics from degenerating into mere exhibitions of personal skill by a few extraordinarily gifted men; our idea is that sports should be developed on such lines as to arouse tho interest of tlie broad masses of. the people and goad them'on to fresh, independent work. Therefore, with us the number of spectators at games is smaller than abroad,, but the number of participants greater. A relay race from Potsdam to Berlin, for example, a distance of over sixteen miles, with GO teams of 50 men each, that is to say, a total of 3000 starters on one day, is an athletic spectaclo not to be witnessed anywhere else in the world. It is just this large total of active, athletes which guarantees a worthy showing for German sport in 1916. For us,, as for the rest of tlie world, the Olympic Games are no selfish object. AVe look upon them as a regularly recurring test of our athletic prowess, which we gladly enter and in which we shall do our best. Indeed we shall stake everything on victory, but not to the mere end of winning, for in triumphs in games we recognise chiefly an impetus to the nation at large to avail itself of the joys and benefits of athletics and to scek in healthy sport distraction .and recreation from the corroding influences of our modern competitive existence.'. ' Athletics, in 'other Words, are viewed by'us. Germans as a means of fortifying and solidifying the national strength. In that spirit we are determined to excel as far as lies in our power. AYe desire above all that the world, if it- accents our hearty invitation for 1916, .shall find, in competition with us, that it'is matching its'muscle and brain against men who are true friends of genuine sport.