Athletics of To-Day 1929

174 Athletics of To-day turned him round, and he staggered blindly towards the grass, cannoned into a Finn, and collapsed. The Finn was passed by Laveaux, Freude, and Studenroth, U.S.A., but staggered on until a few yards from the tape, when he turned and began to run stumbling back. The frantic shouts of his countrymen, however, urged him to a supreme effort of will over suffering body, and he commanded his senses, turned again, and accom– plished his task. Meanwhile, out in the country, men were lying scattered, some almost at death's door. Wide and some others were brought in exhausted and unconscious, and yet others were still being found and picked up at seven o'clock. That was the most dramatic of very many hundreds of races that I have witnessed, and when, finally, a game little Frenchman struggled home with one foot bleeding and one shoe gone, the whole crowd rose to him and roared in acclamation. Just think of it in retrospect ! Man after man came in utterly exhausted, others fell by the wayside and had to be given strychnine to save their lives, and yet the Finns, urmi and Ritola, finished as fresh as if they had only trotted a time or two round the track. There is little wonder that we barely bothered when we heard that inland had won the team title from America and France. The next afternoon, Nurmi and Ritola not only ran, but finished first and second in the 3,000 metres team race, which also was won by Finland from Gr at Britain and America, Nurmi incidentally establishing an Olympic individual record for the distance of 8 mins. 32 s cs., and he had won the r,soo metres in the new Olympic record time of 3 mins. 53! secs., and th 5,000 metres in rs mins. 3I secs., yet another n w Olympic record, thu , I feel convinced, stamping himself as the greatest middle distance runner of all time. oth America and Finland will b force to reckon with, if ever they nter forth International ross- ountry hampion– ship. For inland has proved h r merit and is producing better and better distance runners at very Olympiad; while, in America, organised cross-country running dates back to