Olympic Cavalcade

110 OLYMPIC CAVALCADE Baker and Carrell, to supply the High Jump victor. Of the Swedes, I liked best Willie Pettersen, who already had changed his name to Bjorneman. - ~ One day, subsequently, I was introduced in the Press Club to Percy Rudd, Sports. Editor in those days of the Dai!y~ Chronicle and still Sports Editor, I believe, of the News Chronicle. From that day forth I covered prac- tically all thi big athletic meetings for the Daily Chronicle. _ Meanwhil~ the Oxford and Cambtidge Sports had recommenced on 27 March, 1920, after the post-war reconstruction of Queen's Club, V{ithfour laps to th~-mile. H. M. Abrahams, fresh from vi~tories at the Royal Military College, Camberley, opened the ball with a -new -record of 10 secs. for 100 yards_and won also the Long Jump at 22,ft. 7 in., defeating in the fo_rmer event Bevil ~Rudd, the South African Rhodes scholar, and Guy Butler, his former fellow-Gentleman Cadet at the: R.M.C. That match broug~t to light also Edgat Mountain, H. B. Stallard, W. G. Tatham and R. S. -Woods, C.U.A.C., and E. A. Montague, Bill _Milligan and M. C. _Nokes, O:U.A.C., all of them first-rate Olympic prospects, J~liile a tie betWeen Rudd and Butler in 49·6 secs. at 440 yards promised -'something sensational for the A.A.A. Cham:r,.ionships on 2 and J July, and a possib}e victory for either of them at the Olympic Games. · · For the .~nampionships, Friday was cloudy and threatening, the track wa~ soft-, ana a _strong south-west -wind favoured the sprinters. On Saturday the .track was in-better condition but still on the-soft side. It was th€ 0 day on whkh the pet theories of old Sam Mussabini hegan to bear fruit. 'Edward, using the Mussahini cross-arm action, defeated in the 100 yards (IQ~~<::~-.) W. -A. HilLand,the-South African, Oo.sterJak; and in the 220 yards -(2I•6 secs.) the American, -R. E. Brown. Alb~rt Hill, who was _experimenting wiih Mussabini's cross-arm action and level pace:.lap running, lost the Half:Milenarrowlyto Bevil Rudd-in I min. 55·8 secs. and did not start in the- Mile, which was won in 4mins. 2 3 secs. by Burtin, of Franee. C. E. Blewitt_won the Four Miles and C. T. Clibbon the Ten Miles, held on 10 April, and-..cEercy -Hodge the Steeplechase, while B. H. Baker took the High Jump-at o- ft. J! :fn. In the 440 yards Rudd beat Butler in 49~2 secs. Our prospeefs even ·in one of the peld events looked brighter and P. J. _ Baker, who $ Cl run so well at StQckholrn irt 'I912, was back in the Achilles team which"'defeated South London Harriers in the Re-lay. ""' On the water we had J. Beresfo-rd Jnr., who had b~en runner- up in the Single Sculls Championship, but the Americans, Australians and Swedes looked good fqr the _Swimming races. We hacl high -hopes for the Boxing, Wrestling, Fencing, Cycling, Tennis and the Tug-of-War. We did not-know, however, how strong would be the opposition -from U.S.A., Sweden, Finlana and our ow~ Domini9ns. Italy, moreover, had boasted that she had men l o win both walks, and Franc;:e tha1: she had·an unbeatable successor to Jean Bou1n,~w4o had been-killed during the wa_r oh9I4-:: r§r8.