Bisbee daily review., 1912-09-15
DECLARES WE WON
OLYMP|CS FAIRLY
President of German ANA
teur Athletic Union
on Stockholm Games

BERLIN, Sept. 1.-THE belated |
squeal of the London Times Olym-
pic games special correspondent as
to the alleged tactics OF the American |
team at Stockholm. finds no vestige |
of confirmation in the comprehensive |
German offirial record of the games. |
published in Berlin this week.
Carl Diem. the president OF the |
German Amateur Athletic union. who |
was in charge of the German repre- /;
sentatives at Stockholm, has compiled |
200-page volume dealing with every
phase of the games, annd at every
opportunity he praises the American
competitors in unqualified terms.
Herr Diem will go to the United
! States early in 1913 to make an ex
haustive study OF American training
methods, with view to inaugurating
/ them in Germany in preparation for
| the 1916 Olympiad in Berlin.
America" said Herr Diem to the
| New Pork Times correspondent. lis
| absolutely the only country which
| has anything 70 teach us"
The following excerpts from Herr
/ Diem's official record of the Stock
holm games how what the highest
German athletic authorities thought of
/ the American performances in the
Swedish stadium:
Americas rivals at Stockholm were
wont to complain, among other
things, because the Yankee contest
ants were supported by a company or
body of organized 'rooters,' who
cheered their warriors on TO fresh
triumphs every time the Stars and
Stripes went to the masthead
Il could bring myself TO get ex
cited about this. In fact. | found this
sort or enthusiasm sprang from the
most freyid patriotism and denoted
I only the enyiable spirit of solidarity
and triumphant self-confidence.
wished that my own compatriots in
the grandstand had followed suit.
observed moreover, that the Ameri-
: can 'rooters' embraced many oppor-
tunities to cheer non-American win
ners.
The chief lesson of the Stockholm
games was the totally unexpected
margin of superiority Of the Ameri-
! can over the European competitors.
| can only repeat here what / have
said often that the American achieve
ments were simply the result of a
healthy development.
One encounters frequently the
view that the American team at
Stockholm consisted of prodigies,
freaks and professionals. No explain
alton of defeat is easier: none is so
D calculated to induce continued resi-
dence in a fools paradise. l wish 10
say here, with all emphasis, that no
: body's opinion about the American
: team is worth hearing who did not
see it at Stockholm face to face.
Il do not Internationally publish a
full page photograph of the American
team in this volume. although ordin-
arily such a picture would have inter
J est only for Americans. II is per
4 lfectly plain from this photograph that
!, the American team consisted Of a
group of rarely uniform men, trained
j on the right physiological lines. We
can congratulate ourselves if we
succeed by the employment OF mod
. ern training methods in developing
: human material of the same sort
: Our men. taking them one by one
gave splendid accounts of themselves
: only our opponen ts, especially the
, Americans, entered better men. u
was, of course, a special disappoint
4 ment that even our premier sprinters
: Hans Braun, suffered defeat at the
hands of America. Braun prior tc
: Stockholm. ranked even in the United
/, States as invincible The history Of
the past few weeks has altered this
conception. whether with right or mo-
:, need not be discussed. Braun's de
= feats. at any rate, were a typica
: justification of the principle of elm
), ination in sport-the principle which
seeks out the best average in a Civ
! en- class and continues the weedini
!, out process till the supreme best il
= discovered and developed.
Perhaps. even a year ago. Americ'
y had no sprinter worthy of Braun
! steel When, however. American be
gan bordering over the idea-unbeaT