New-York tribune., 1912-03-17
olympic IDEA GROWING
National Associations Forming
in Many Countries.
satolSH REGULATIONS FAIR
uql Not Handicap American
Athletes - South Africa
Plans Strong Team.
nv Edward r. BUSHNELL.

.het the duadrennial olympic games
eeiN' ,..,esse I'm importance as an inter-
- athletic feature is the fact that
thasO of foreign countries have fol-
a.. example set by France and the
~ states and converted their tenn
,h'-Ss.. olympic association into permanent
sP1-,Jys,ions England was the first coun-
- .uulate the French and Americans,
-. authoritative statement from the
s.,tS o,vmpic Committee is that its asso-
4. 20 h. a permanent body, charged
.ha Suty Of securing funds to pay the
'aonsss Of the English team to compete
s's.r.yor these meets are held.
rso Swedish Olympic Association will
- ,.e association. The Swedes have
se,.o,onsd q tremendous interest in track
sod asls athletics and purpose TO keep
c,,-.dep IN the front hereafter From Aus
.,.aI,. zpd South Africa come reports that
.,rn,lar movements are on foot there.
ra..ce which was virtually responsible for
49, rovival of the ancient Olympic games
., Athens in 1896 has maintained a sort
:, national Olympic association ever since
that date
The nermanent organization of so many
time the Olympic games are held in this
country there will be a good foreign repre-
ssntstion. In 1874 when the Olympic games
we're held at St. Louis the foreign teams
amounted 10 practically nothing. This was
dine. IN a measure, to the fact that the re-
vived Olympic games had hardly been es-
,.hlisbed. As a matter of fact, the Eastern
eellese athletes of this country paid little
sttsrtiop to the games. The International
yavalry. produced by the London games IN
lsB was responsible for the permanent IN
.arss, which has expressed itself in perma-
nsnt olympic associations.
The American committee has made wise
: move in deciding to hold all three tryorts
according 10 the swedish rules. The
swedish regulations are fair and will not
handicap any team. However, the Ameri-
cans need TO be familiar with the rules
and no better method could be devised for
familisrizing them than this.
AS far as the athletes themselves are
concerned the new rules affect only the
weight men In the field events-throwlhS
the hammer. the discus and putting the
shot--the Swedes have provided that the
athletes will not be allowed to use their
own implements. They must use
hammer. a shot and discus furnished by
the Swedish committee.
In the hammer throw and discus our own
authorities have had much trouble i'm Sc
curing authentic records. II has so fire.
ouently been found either that there was
some defect in the construction of the
discus, that the weight was short, or the
handle of the hammer not made IN ac-
cordance with the rules, that many ne"
records had to be disallowed.
The American committee and athletic
authorities in general are pleased with the
fairness Of the Swedish rules. This coun-
try has maintained ever since the l9Vn
games that the International olympic
Council itself should establish set OF uni
form rules. The council. however, has con-
tended that the country managing the
games should have the privilege of decid-
ing what rules should govern the games
and likewise 10 select its own officials
Reports from South Africa indicate that
the men from the veldt expect 10 make an
even better showing than they did in lSVe'
when Walker astonished the world ny
winning the 100 metres dash, and "heh
Heffron finished next 10 Hayes in the
Marathon run. II is their intention to SEND
a team of eight men, OF this number they
have one who they expect will take the
place of Walker, His name is Patching,
and according to South African records he
has done both the 100 and 30 yard events
IN better than even time. On what was
said to be a poor track he last year made
a new South African record OF O;Z2 10 ior
the furlong
The rest of the athletic world Will no
doubt be content to await developments 10
see whether or not he is really as fast az
reported II Patching is really as good
man as Walker, II will take a new Oiym-
pic record TO beat him.
In addition to being a wonderful sprinter'
Patching is said to be strong in both the
quarter and half mile runs. He now holds
the South African record Of 49 seconds Tor
the 4io-yard run. His friends say that
with the proper training he can do AZ sec
onds. He is also reported to have done
. minutes for the half mile If he can
make good at all these distances he VIII
prove himself TO be second Lon Myers.
In the middle distances South Africa has
q man by the name of Victor who has
record of l. 5S for the half and 4:2S for the
. mile. He is only a youngster, and great
things are predicted for him. Another Won
.derfuI man which South Africa claims to
have Is J. A. Stegmann. who is given rec
ord of % feet in the broad jump, in spite
Of the fact that he is only a preparatory
school student.
South Africa expects K. X. Macarthur to
duplicate the performances of Heffron, the
1903 Marathon runner. Last Easter he es-
tablished the South African record of 80
minutes rs is seconds for the ten-mile run
at Durham. On one occasion he ran a
Marathon race over the regulation distance
In hours 42 minutes.
Reports from England are to the effect
that j. Baker. the Cambridge half mile and
mile champion, intends to specialize on the
hsh-mhe run. In recent set of inter-
eoliesiate games he ran the distance In 1:5s.
for country which has never done any,
thlns OF note In International athletics Ger
many Is proceeding industrially to develop
good team. A number OF athletic meets
nave already been held In Berlin and other
ei'ies' and many more are planned. The
pest man that Germany has at present is
fsssemann, who won the pole vault ana
uhe hlgn jump at the English champion
's' summer. In the pole vault he
can DO better than Il feet ana he has a
'ecofo OF feet in the high lump.
me iA'est sensation in the American ath-
o "orid Is Sargent. a University of
ieniean student who. in a set OF indoor
s",nes iast week. cleared the bar at feet
menes' II he can even approach this
nelsht consistently he will be a most use
.ui man FOR the Wolverines in the COM
ing intercollegiate meet, and for the nation
In the olympics.