The Olympic Games and the Duke of Westminster's Appeal

10 'l'HE OLY1 1.PIC GA1l'IES. the ideals which inspire this revival of the ancient festival." I NADEQUACY OF THE COUNCIL. Again, three weeks later , attention was called to the fact that, with the Stockholm Games now only five months away, there were departments of sport in which " no satisfactory arrangement has been made for our proper representation ":- " The public has, of corn-se, only one interest in the matter-namely, that Great Britain shall not be placed in a false position in t be eyes of other nations by being inadequately represonted. It does not care what the machinery may be by which that end is attained ; but it has heretofore rested easily in the belief that such machinery existed in the British Olympic Council. By confes ion of the Council itself, it now appears that that body is inadequate, and disclaims any pretensions, to be ablo to do ,vnat has been expected of it ; in which case tho public has an undoubted right to insist that other and more· competent machinery shall be provided. Suggestions have already been abundantly put forward as to how that can be achieved ; as by t he constitution of a new and less unwieldy body, which will be invested with proper authority to safeguard national interest and will, at the same time, command the public sympathy and re.,;pect. The right power to constitute such a body appears to be the Olympic Council itself ; and it would be deplorable if the Council should decline or fail to take action until new troubles have developed, more serious perhaps than those now existing, which will compel interference from outside." ('l'he T imes, Feb. 14, 1912.) The Co~cil, however, declined to take any such action as was thus urged upon it, and we went to Stockho~ unrepresented in several competi– tions, half represented in others, and with the same slipshod and inadequate preparation as had been shown at former Games even more con– sp,icuous. Inasmuch as, in the meanwhile, other countries had been concentrating on the qamel! with m~cJ;i. greater earnestness than ever before, t!te J.'\lS~~ Wll;S ipevitable. By the subsequent disq~alification of 1,'hprpe for professionalism, the United States surrendered five p9ints, of which four would go to Sweden and one to Norway, making their totals 137 and- - 17 respectively. The combined score ·for -the British Empire was llS 1-3 :- United Kingdom .. South Africa Canada Australia .. 76 16 131-3 13 118 1-3 How t hese poin ts were scored is shown in the following table :- · '.l'irn BRI'l'ISH E~rPIRE. a 0 "d <:: ~o oi ~ ~ ~ <:: -~ "d d <I) .a ,,::: .... al ..., "" g ..., ·2 ::s :'.l ..., 0 d 0 p r:n Q <11 E-< ------ Athletics .. , 15 5 *7 1-3 27 1-3 Cycling .. . . 4 3 7 Fencin~ .. 2 2 Footba I ..I 3 3 Gymnastics 1 1 Lawn Tennis : Covered Courts 12 l 13 Open Air 8 8 Rowin( I.. 10 10 Shooting 15 15 Swimming: Men .. 9 6 7 22 Women 5 5 10 Military Riding Wrestling Yachting ··1- - - - - Totals .. 76J_1_6- 13 1-31_1_3 -,us 1-3 RESULTS AT STOCKHOLM. FINE PERFORMANCES. We ~ye 8:1readY compared the results of the It may be remarked that, meagre as this score Oa.~~ 9f 1912 wi~h those of 1908 and seen what is, it includes some very fine performances and the extenuating circumstances there were to account winning of a number of the most important events. for our descent from a pre-eminent first place to a First in the mile, first and secoµd µi ~he Marathon +----,-------...;m~od=· e:::ra= te;::_t::::hird ::::.:;:::::·=---=In_,tFh::.:e'-iifc::.or:,:.: m=s:cer=-,...c;..,o=-=m=c,arr=-=is"-'o=-=n=-;-.ct"'h~e-~race first and second in the lon -dista ce walk, ~~ 'Vere giyeµ as tra:nslated into the method first and second in the open-air lawn tennis, first of IICO~ in 1908. ';f!ie f9l1owing table gives the in football, first and second in the eights and lis1i. of n~ti9.ns. scprtng pPints in 1912 with the first in the sculls, first and second in the 200-mile number of points gained by each under the method bicycle race and seven firsts in swimming, besides of ·sco~ used at Stockhoµn, as officially published the water polo-this, in the imp~rtance of t\l!' ~~tely aftei; the clcse of t~e Games. This competitions, is a vastly more creditable bunch ~. 8fi ~ ~n 5a\d ah9ve, on the basis of three of victories than any gained by any ot~er country, :pp~w foi; a f4'st pliwe, two for a Sll(lond, and one except the magnificent series of performances for a third :-::-:- of the Americans in the short-distance running and Country. Points. Country. Points. field events in the Stadium. But " our ideal ~ • · 13'3 Norway · · 16 is not the Olympic ideal." One victpry CO\lllts ·Grea.tBri~ 1 : Canada. · · g no mo,re thai;i another, anq, when all excuses a~ ~ . 52 ii:!rra.lia.. . 13 made, the fact remains that the aggreg~t,e numb,ei; Germany . . 47 Belgium 11 of point,s gained Wll;S sadly disappointing. ~d ~ •• 32 Austria. 6 t~e sti,ng of the qefeat lay in the knowl~ge ~!~at South'Afri~ }: ~= : we are ~ntitled to something so much ~t~r. Builgary.. 16 Holla.nd , 3 •Tie with two others for third place in the pole vault.