OLYMPIC GAMES.

Evening Star, Issue 19790, 14 February 1928, Page 6

OLYMPIC GAMES.

Three claims can be made for New Zealand’s participation in the Olympic Games. They are, first, that it is good for sport, which is good for manhood; second, that the games are an influence for international amity; third, that participation with a reasonable success in them is good advertisement, which is good business for New Zealand. The first claim must bo conceded, though too much attention can be given to sport, and we have heard it argued that more might be done for sport in this country if the same amount of money were spent in introducing champions who would set examples here than by sending teams abroad. The second claim should be beyond all question, but unfortunately, at the Olympic Games held four years ago,in P.aris, certain episodes occurred tending strongly to suggest that the influence of the competitions might be not so much to allay international animosities as to inflame them. It lias been easier for some nations to adopt British games than to play them, under stress of extreme excitement, in the British spirit. There was unpleasantness on a smaller scale at Stockholm, in 1912, The Paris games produced such a bad impression that the London ' Times ’ had an article with the headings “ Olympic Games Doomed,” “Failure of the Ideal.” The conclusion was voiced that “ no one, it is to be feared, will feci justified in again appealing to the British public to support the sending of a full team to another Olympiad.” But there may have been something exceptionally wrong in 1921 with the atmosphere of Europe or of Paris. The Olympiads, in any case, are to bo given another chance. If the nations continue to play games, it is natural to expect that they will learn the proper spirit. A new zest for sport which has arisen in Germany has boon noted as the finest antidote to militarism. Great Britain is sending a strong team to the next Olympiad, to bo held in July and August next, in Amsterdam. And the British Olympic Council has strongly appealed to New Zealand to send a team, as has been done belorc. It will bo housed with the British representatives in the Dutch city. Wc think the team should be sent for all the reasons we have advanced as advantages of sending it. It will not mean that we are over-doing sport merely for us to have our share in the biggest event. The sporting bodies are providing £I,OIXI. But £IO,OOO is needed, which must be found by popular subscription, to send a team of swimmers, boxers, track athletes, and rowers—about twenty in all. it will be a cheap price, if they do as well as they can be expected to do, to keep New Zealand on the map. There should be better value than on any past occasion, because the games have grown continually. In 1890, when they were first revived, at Athens, the number of nations which took part was small. By 1912, at Stockholm, it had grown to twonty-seven. At Paris it was fortythree, and this year it is expected there will be sixty. It is no longer a question, however, whether a New Zealand team shall be sent or not. The contestants in several sports have been nominated. All that remains is to find the money to make the team the strongest that can ho sent. It must be found in five weeks from now, which is fast going. Wc shall be glad to acknowledge subscriptions in our columns.