Men of Mark in the World of Sport

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 245, 6 January 1928, Page 10

Men of Mark in the World of Sport

Dominion s Champion All-Round Athlete

Few greater all-rounders have ever i -jmpetod on the athletic fields of New Zealand than K. G. Sutherland, the Wellington champion, whose memorable tussle in the Decalthlon with Keskinen. the Queenslander, was a notable feature of the Australasian track and field championships at Wellington last week. Sutherland started his athletic career in Wellington just before the war. He served in the N.Z.K.F. for lour years, and it was not till 1919-20 that lie came into the athletic limelight. At the X.Z. championships of that year he won the high jump, long jump and hop, step and jump. For the next two season he continued to be one of the Dominion’s leading performers. OFF TO AFRICA It was a sad loss for Dominion ■ ih ti< a wl en be left New Zealand for South Africa with the Springbok athletic team, but for the "Wellingtonian it was the beginning of a series of travels that were to make his name known in practically every part of the sporting world. Sutherland reached his high tide in the land of the Springbok. Among his many brilliant performances in Natal was a great long jump of 23ft 7*in, which broke the South African record as it then stood, and he still holds the Natal record for a high jump, by virtue of his championshipwinning leap of 6ft 0 5-Bin in 1924.

• j He represented South Africa at the ■ j Olympic Games in Paris in 1924 and • | finished fifth in a field of 40 odd comi petitors in the Decathlon. He also | represented the British Empire in the • great test meeting against America. BACK IN NEW ZEALAND The wanderer returned to New Zealand in 1926, and last season at the N.Z.A.A.A. championships at Auckland • he had an impressive array of successes i| in the field events. Last month at I Christchurch he convincingly proved that he had retained his form, and in the Australasian track and field championships at Wellington last week, he . took part in a battle royal for the Decathlon championship with Keskinen, the blond Finn, who had to put lip an Australasian points record to beat the New Zealander. ; Sutherland is 33 years of age, and he declares that after this season he ! will not take athletics seriously. Although he has not a great deal of confidence in himself as a coach, he is always willing to help anyone who seeks assistance, and in this respect he should be able to give much valuable assistance to the sport for many years yet. It will not be surprising, however, to see him in the thick of the fray at the next Dominion championships. He is practically self-taught, aijd his career, the greatest in the I ©tic history of the Dominion, is a shining example to all youngsters who take on the sport.