Fifty Years of Progress 1880-1930

THE INTERNATIONAL MATCHES Irish crowd is the best educated athletically, and shows a keen interest and appreciation in the course of every event, even in the Cinderella of the programme, the Shot-Put. (There are indications that in Germany this ballistic Cinderella has found her Fairy Prince in the person of Hirschfeld, who is something of a national hero.) The French, who are comparatively new as a nation of spectators at this kind of meeting, are enthusiastic, partisan and perhaps a little less impersonal than is usual in England. But they are logical to this extent: whereas we applaud victory and are silent in the presence of defeat, they sometimes indicate their disappointment at the lack of success of their nationals by unequivocal signs. If such a meeting is to be a success from the point of view of the spec– tators it is essential that there shall be no long periods of time during which no event is in progress and that full information shall be given as to the progress and results of every event. This is best done by means of the electric loud speaker. The competitors, who are mostly experienced athletes, seldom suffer from nervousness of the kind which is liable to spoil their performance, although in most cases they will be conscious of the nervous tension which usually accompanies athletic competition. In some cases times and distances may be affected by strange or even adverse conditions, but the stimulus of an international setting is usually sufficient to maintain a very fair average standard. Team work is seen at its best in these matches, and the practice of giving every competitor a memento of the event, which should be intrinsically nearly valueless, is most strongly urged by those who have the cause of amateur athletics most at heart. The officials of the meeting, who are drawn from the Athletic Associa– tions of the competing countries, are, of course, animated by the same patriotic spirit as the competitors and the crowd, but they are experienced men, usually with a distinguished athletic career behind them, either in organisation or competition, and their judgments in the administration of athletic law are above reproach. Their differences of point of view, which are settled in Committee, make for the improvement of athletics generally and their friendly relations with the athletes are of value in welding the team into an efficient unit. The status of the competitor in these matches can be considered from the point of view of the outside public and from that of the athletes them– selves. The international athlete certainly does not enjoy the prestige of the international footballer or of the Test Match player at cricket, but this is probably due to the fact that athletics has not yet assumed the importance of either football or cricket as a national sport. Consideration must also be given to the fact that such teams generally consist of thirty or more members, and that many of these are "second strings." The athlete himself is conscious of these two facts and realises that his athletic status is really decided among his contemporaries by performance-for performance is measurable. 107

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