Athletics of To-Day 1929

Cross-Country Running 17 3 three Olympic races that have been held. At Stockholm, where the distance was about 8,ooo metres, the placing was Sweden, Finland, Great Britain, with H. Kolehmainen, the Finn, first man home. At Antwerp, 1920, the di tance was standardized at ro,ooo metres (almost 6! miles), and the order was Finland, Great Britain, Sweden, with Paavo Nurmi finishing well ahead. At Paris, 1924, there was such a debacle as caused the event to be omitted from the programme at Amsterdam in 1928. July r2th, 1924, was a day of tropical heat, and although the runners did not start until half-past four in the afternoon and the course was not a hard one, some f ars were expr s d on account of the intense heat, but no one dr amed of the pitiful sight we were to see at the finish. Early in the race urmi and Ritola (Nos. 2 and I, late 23), followed by Wide, wed n, got away on their own, but even Wide could not live at the pace those two inns set, and after a while Ritola himself could not hold Nurmi. Even with this news ringing in our ears from the loud-speak rs, we did not realize th pa e at which aavo Nurmi was trav lling, and when a gr at shout gave warning that he was approaching the Marathon ate the 400 m tr s elay heats, which were in progress, had to be stopped. I shall never forg t the spectacle of that Finnish superman as he appeared and trotted round the arena, while the air rock dwithche ringthats emednottointere torpl asehimone atom. He finish d his race, appar ntly as fit as wh n h had start d, took off his sho , and had walk d half-way across th ground bef re itola arrived a full minute b hind him, and h too show d but light sign of di tr . Th n cam . E. John on, U..A., 30 yards b hind itola, with . Harp r, Great Britain, anoth r 200 yards b hind him. Th s m n looked absolutely done, and Harp r ind collap d com– pletely as he pas ed the winning po ts. The fifth man, a paniard, fell fl ton hi face a h cam through the Marathon at and was carri d away. A. well, r at Britain, ame next and turn d the wrong way into the track. fficial shouted at him, but h was pat und r tanding; one