DOMINION ATHLETES

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 106, 29 January 1935, Page 13

DOMINION ATHLETES

Excellent Performances in Melbourne NERVOUSNESS A FACTOR It is considered by Mr. T. AV. Leslie, official starter for the Wellington Amateur Athletic Association, that the New Zealand representatives at the centenary athletic meeting in Melbourne put up excellent performances. It had to be remembered, he said yesterday, that they were pitted against some of the best amateurs in the world, and to gain three seconds and one win in such good times against such distinguished athletes proved that we had as good material in this country as anywhere in -the world. Their haudtcap was that they did not get the op portunity often enough to compete against flrst-elass talent. Mr. Leslie related that before the team left for Australia he informed Mncfarlane that the hardest man to beat would be Hampson. This runner was a big Australian, who bad not a nerve in his body, and who would go all out untrammelled.by any thought of the reputations of those whom he was competing against. This freedom from nervousness was a very important factor in the winning of a race. Some of the New Zealanders, good performers too, were sometimes bOaten before they started owing to a sleepless night brought on by thinking too much about next day’s events, and how they would run. Australians, as a rule, were not troubled sc- much on that score. On one occasion when Carlton, the champion Australian sprinter, was to run in AVellington, he was found sound asleep in a rug in the roller house t°n minutes before he was to run. There was no chance of bis oversleeping him self, as his trainer knew where he was. When lie was aroused and told that he had to run in a few minutes, lie just stood up, rubbed his eyes, did a few jerks on his toes, and was ready to step out ou to the track.