J. E. LOVELOCK’S FUTURE.

Evening Star, Issue 22454, 26 September 1936, Page 14

J. E. LOVELOCK’S FUTURE.

Many people besides those who deplore the fact that Rhodes scholars are only too often lost to New Zealand after they leave these shores to take advantage of their award will be interested in the suggestion that J. E. Lovelock, New Zealand record-breaker in the 1,500 metres at the Olympiad and leading figure in several other big races, may be asked to become bead of a Government deipartment which will have for its object the promulgation of modern physical culture principles among the youth of the Dominion. Further, they will hope earnestly and sincerely that if such a post is created Lovelock will accept it. Present indications point to his willingness to fall in with the kind of proposal that has been made, for in the course of a series of letters to the ‘ Evening Star ’ he has stated that when his medical studies are finished he would like to tour New Zealand, lecturing to secondary schools and university colleges on the subject on which, it may be taken for granted, his heart is set. He has also intimated in his correspondence that he wishes to write a book dealing with sports and athletic training from a scientific and medical viewpoint. There is nobody better equipped than Lovelock for the position which it is suggested to establish. His athletic prowess is too well known to require mention; his character is such.as to provide a sterling example for young New Zealand to follow; and his expert knowledge of physical culture, in which the way of the faddist finds no place, should assist in breeding a still more healthy and virile type in the Dominion. It is the broader aspect of national well-being that commands primary attention, and it is no doubt this aim, rather than the training of future Olympic champions, that the Goyern-

ment will have in mind if it decides to bring the suggested scheme to fruition. Lovelock himself is interested not only in athletic championships. Ho has pjayed football; he is an expert boxer; and he is one of the few authorities who flout the idea that swimming has the effect of tighteniug up the muscles used in running. In short, he may appropriately be termed a “ Jack of all sports.” Nor can his administrative ability bo overlooked. In Dunedin he became captain of the Otago University Athletic Club, and while at Oxford followed up his secretaryship of the Oxford University Athletic Club with a valuable term as ]> resident—the highest honour that could have been conferred upon him at that august institution. The New Zealand Government has acted wisely in inviting this fine young sportsman to visit the land of his birth. It would continue to be wise if it established a national system of physical training on a scale sufficiently ambitious to attract a leader of the Lovelock calibre. These organisations are becoming popular overseas. If New Zealand does not claim Lovelock some other country may. 1