New-York tribune., 1912-08-31
Commissioner Sullivan and Col.
Thompson Deny Charges in
"London Times" OF 0bStruct-
ing and PoCketing.
"FALSE STARTS PENALIZED"
American Rules on This and on
Knocking Over Hurdles Not
in Force at Stockholm or
London, They Say-Brit-
ish Are Criticised.

sportsn1en come out ahead in intcrna =
tional competitions, whether I'm athletic
games. yacht racing or what not. a Ger
tain section of the British public sets
UP a howl and makes charges of un-
sportSmanlike practices. There is al
ways an explanation from some one tr
the tight little island.
The London Times" published a let
ter yesterday morning from a CORE
spondcnt mean enough 10 say that
members OF the American team at
Stockholm were downright dishonest
This British correspondent goes into
particulars. and here are the specific
charges that he makes:
|. American runners In some races did
az a team. Ohstruct and pocket comp"ti,
tors of Other nations IN way Which "
was impossible TO regard as accidental.
. As individuals they did. on seN"i al
occasions besides, ap. nrently with n'eh-
tion. swcrVr. using their elbows I" hic-
vent competitors Of another natonhitF
from passing.
2. At the start Of some races, and those
not all short distanc" events. theN ri'i
pcrsiStcntly 10 beat the pistol lu way
thut ruined the nerve oi oth"r con.
petitors who were striving 10 be hohcst'
In this last particular. AZ well rs IN IN"
knocking down Of hurdles. II IL remarked
thev doubtless were encouraged by tl'
immunity from penalties tV which tncF
are accustomed in the United states.
Naturally the American Olympic
committee in this city did not care to
overlook the matter entirely. 50 James
f. Sullivan, American olympic com
sioner appointed by President Taft
was delegated to make reply 10 the
letter in THE London Times"
"sportsmanship Of Low Order
Mr.. Sullivan says: From number
of letters that have appeared In the
London press since the Olympic games
one is forced to come to the conclusion
that England's sportsmanship ~ OF a
low order n II is represented by the
defenders OF it's athletic degeneracy
who have been writing the articles
which have appeared in several OF the
English newspapers and occasionally
find space in our American dailics.
"The Americans who have had the
pleasure OF being a part OF every eS-
pedition since the beginning Of inter
national competition, and have watched
America wipe England OF the map
athletically, do not wonder why Eng
land cannot succeed Instead Of real
izing the true situation they run into
the abusive stage. and in order to ex-
Dlain why Sweden and Finland defeat
ed them they abuse the American ath-
lete.
"The charge that Americans pock-
eted the competitors OF other nations
is absolutely false. When our athletes
went to the mark they ceased TO be a
team. They were there TO win. and
each American ran his own race and
did not try TO obstruct any one. Team
work tactics and obstruction methods
came To us from England. The Ameri-
cans had many lessons in obstructins,
pocketing and team work IN the Sta
dunn in London in 1903. They OBJ
served the tactics OF the Englishmen
during the races and read about them
the next day. when many OF the Eng
lish denounced athletes for not carry
ing ont instructions In team work
Regarding the charge OF swerving. II
Is as false as can be. Ii i5 an insult 10
every man on the team and cowardly
because II comes from one defending a
defeated nation, II this particular
writer observed any athlete guilty OF
actions unbecoming 10 a gentleman and
sportsman ne should have mentioned
his name and not made q sweeping
charge against the An erican athletes
who were far more superior in many
respects than the men who made M
the English team.
On reference TO the charge OF beat
ing the pistol and knocking down hur-
dies he did not understand the rules
and knows nothing about the stand
taken by the American committee
VIC TcHbi'Lc IoT aIoc otdTt.
an the United States we penalize for
false start. At the English Olympic
games they had no penalties. We dis
qualify a man for knocking down hur-
dies, and the records are In Stockholm
and In America to prove that we did
object to no penalty starts We also
asked that a competitor be disqualified
for knocking down a hurdle Over
sixty hurdles were knocked down In the
hurdle race AT Stockholm this year. and
many OF them by the English cracks.
ITS my duty to answer man that
is SO unfair and biassed as this corre-
spondent. and his paper owes an apol-
ogy TO the athletic American nation
The correspondent declares that his
letter is not written with the desire oil
provoking n controversy, but solely
with a view TO putting the facts on
record. ! doubt If there has ever been
so weak a sentence written.
1T is laughable TO read the para
graph wherein he says that what oc-
Cured at Stockholm involves no indict-
ment of the sporting spirit Of the peo-
ple of the entire United States. ] feel