Olympic Cavalcade

PARIS, 1924 133 Ceremony of a Celebration was not perhaps so fully appreciated even by the B.O.A., and one heaved a sigh of relief and satisfaction as the smart and well-equipped British team filed past to the skirling of the pipes. There were, however, perhaps no more than 200 representatives in the British contingent, as it had been considered both uneconomical and un– desirable to take over the whole British contingent in time for the Opening Ceremony, otherwise in the march past we might well have matched the 400 contingent which had come from the States to show the flag of their country. The Americans were in every way as smart and well turned out as our own people, and the British Dominions, too, made a fine appearance. At the conclusion of the March Past the teams, having completed the circuit of the track, formed up-in their appointed positions in the middle of the Stadium facing the Tribune. Then M. Le Comte Clary, President of the French Olympic Committee, with Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a slight, heavily moustached figure at his side, called upon the President of the Republic to declare the Games open, and M. Doumergue did so in a loud, clear voice. The Olympic flag rose to the mast-head to the strains of 'The Mar– seillaise' while the guns roared the traditionar Olympic salute and a great flight of pigeons was released from the traps to carry the news to every corner of the country. In that moment one looked down at the small figure of de Coubertin, and one wondered at the might of this man's spirit which had made possible the gathering together from all the corners of the earth, of men of different religions, different colour, different creeds, and different aspirations in one great concourse of perfect amity. Suddenly the strains of Saint-Saens Le Marche Heroi'que rose softly as it was sung by L'Institut de Prague. The standard-bearers of the nations moved forward and lowered their flags as Georges Andre, perhaps one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time, mounted the rostrum to recite the Olympic Oath on behalf of all the assembled athletes. ' He raised his rigpt hand and said in a clear, ringing voice: "We swear that we come to the VIIIth Olympiad animated by a respect for the regulations which govern it, and desirous of participating for the honour of our country and the glory of sport." The teams filed out through the Marathon Gate whereby they had entered and the Games were on. Whether this Olympiad ~hould be known for the Great Recovery of the war-worn English, for the Individual Triumphs of Paavo Nurmi, as the greatest runner the world had yet known, or for the steady but relentless advance of the Finns to what may yet well become the world's premier athletic honours, I am not prepared to say. . · . · Antwerp had shown us Albert Hill at his very best although nearing the milestone marking twoscore years, the great athletic come-back of