Olympic Cavalcade

FOURTH OLYMPIC GAMES IN LONDON, 1908 69 morning of the Final to a ground in another part of London, where he spent some time trying out starts. He won the 100 metres Olympic Dash Final in the afternoon in 10·8 secs. from Rector, Kerr and Cartmell. He did not, however, figure in the Final of the 200 metres, which Kerr won on the next day in 22·6 secs. from R. Cloughan and Nate Cartmell, both U.S.A., with G. A. Hawkins, U.K., 4th. Cloughan, a red-headed schoolboy from New York, was a member of the Irish– American A.C. He was certainly one of the big surprises of the 1908 Celebration. So little had been thought in the States of his chances as a sprinter that he had not been selected for the U.S.A. team. Still, the boy was mighty keen, and his parents anxious to encourage him. So they paid his way abroad. _ U.S.A. coaches discovered young Cloughan in England on his own, so was allowed to join the U.S.A. team-a lucky circumstance for America, for he beat their best furlong man, the great Nate Cartmell, and only just failed to hold Kerr, the Canadian winning by less than a foot in 22·6 secs. · - That brought us to the still desperately and sometimes still acrimoniously debated 400 metres. For this the United Kingdom had .one absolutely sure bet. That was Wyndham flalswell, a London-born Scott. To put the case perfectly fairly_ so that it may, I hope, be cleared up and so finished with, here are two accounts written by American and British correspondents. The first is by that famous British athletic authority, the late Saru Mussabini: "The famous Halswell incident occurred in connection with the quarter mile. There were four runners in the final heat, three Americans and the Britisher, Halswell, who was expected to win pretty easily. He would have done so, but for the extremely unwise directions of the multitudinous advisers thronging the dressing-room. These advised him to go all out for record from the very start. The wiser council of experienced men suggested that the Britisher, not having the sprinting pace of h1s rivals, should wait until the abnormally long finishing straight (about 180 yards in length) be~ore letting himself go all out. Unfortunately, as is usually the case, the Voices of the uninitiated majority (which included those of not a few well– meaning people who still loom ·large in the world of English athletics) determined the tactics. As a consequence, Halswell was easily led and carried out at the bend by first one and then the other of two faster rivals. Trying to round them he travelled right to the outside of the track, losing many yards in doing so, and (as the race was run) he was not first at the tape. The writer reserves his opinion as to the rights or wrongs of breaking the tape and asking the race to be run a second time with stringed tracks for each runner. He would merely ask a little consideration of the diagram illustrating the affair." ·