New-York tribune., 1912-03-10
BRITISH OLYMPIC PLANS
Much Strength Expected from
the University Teams.
wNILLAN STRONG SPRINTER
otber oxford and Cambridge
Athletes Looked TO for
Laurel Wreaths.
Nv Edward 4. Bushnell.

Lament OF strength Of the British
team in this years games will be
uH"t w of the oxford and Cambridge ath-
~s ropr years ago there were only two
le''9' '..,ot,ves from these institutions, and
,.i,ad Iamentably TO add anything 10
un" as,re Of the British athletes They
.'.rs lust. the half miller and Is. Powell
the hurdler'
-. ~ the university athletes in l9oS, but
-oor conditions will be so changed that
'u .'.. all Of them will be available. For
Many years oxford and Cambridge
80. hold their dual track meet in the
.,,b of March. AS a result majority of
,nAn gave up competitive athletics i'm
,,.,.,v after the meet. This was done
,oa, and was the main reason for the
,,,,s ~ , ~ the oxford and Cambridge men
70 represent Great Britain in the games
,,bich were held at Shepherds Bush.
This year the British Olympic committee
:, rookine every effort 10 have the English
,,niversItv men train especially for the
o,,nnic team. and expects 20 derive much
=, ace strength from these two universities.
ovtord and Cambridge will hold their dual
roeot in June. so that their competitors
can get into shape gradually. and by the
lime Of their dual meet should he right al
The TOP OF their form.
The English tryouts are to be held at
1ondon during the month of May. 1t has
"a, bsen announced whether or not the Ok
ford and Cambridge men will be compelled
10 enter these tryouts, but the chances are
hat many OF them will do so. though the
English committee reserves the right 10
make further changes However, there is
no doubt that the results Of the Oxford
rsmbridge meet will be just as important
IN their eyes as the tryouts-
There are a number Of unusually good
athletes in Oxford and Cambridge Prob
ably the most promising is Mcmillan, win
ner Of the 1O0-yard dash IN the dual meet
year ago. At that time he made the re-
nsrkabe record of 10 seconds on a bad
March day. He did not show the improve
ment that was expected OF him during the
GUNNER, although he won his event in the
International meet with Yale and Harvard
in 1Di-5 seconds. This was his first year of
university competition. and the experts pre-
dict that with proper training he will de-
yslop into a consistent 10-second man. Just
now there IS great dearth OF first class
sprinters, and in Mcmillan England has a
chance for the Olympic championship. He
Is powerful runner and capable Of double
performances, as he showed in the interna-
tional meet when. after winning the 100
yards. he was second in the quarter-mile
which was won IN 40 AS seconds. The Cam
bridge man has a serious rival in Lange OF
oxford. Dange IS an American Rhodes
scholar, coming from Oklahoma He has
improved greatly since entering oxford
and is credited with having done 10 seconds
q number OF times.
The English universities also have
good quarter-miler in Black. who won this
event in the international games with Yale
and Harvard A great deal is expected OF
P. J. Baker, Of Cambridge. in the one-miie
run. Although he made only AIS 1-5 in the
International games, he was not hard
pressed. The English critics confidently be-
heve that he can byat 40. which, Of course,
he will have 10 do 10 win the 1900 metres
st Stockholm.
In addition TO these men, special atten-
Ton should be paid 10 c. H. Porter, of OK
ford. and Z. Gowan Taylor. of the same
Institution, in the distance runs. In the
International meet Taylor won the two
mile event in 9:29 1-5, with Porter second.
In the three-mile run in the dual meet be-
tween oxford and Cambridge a year ago
Porter won in Is minutes seconds. Both
OF these were remarkable performances,
and although Berna, OF Cornell. has a bet
ter record than either Of these men for
two miles the man who beats them in the
Olympics viii have to DO record breaking
time.
These six about exhaust the point-win-
ming possibilities Of the English coIegians.
oxford has good hammer-thrower in Put
ham. also Rhodes scholar, but good as he
is he is not in the same class with such
men as McGrath. Talbot, Walsh and Ryan.
of this country, all four OF whom can throw
IN the neighborhood OF or better than 10
feet
great deal Of interest has been aroused
N this country over the announcement from
stockholm that the Swedish Olympic com
lmittee has decided not to penalize a false
start This Is an Olympic rule, though the
country holding the games IS allowed to ex-
eicise its discretion on this point. In arrlv-
Ag at this decision the Swedes are merely
following the example set by the British
VVmpic committee in 1906.
Just why the Olympic committee permits
such leniency in its starting rules is not
Understood on this side. At all OF our
championship observation-disclosures and
amateur Athletic Union-false starts are
strictly penalized II sprinter makes one
'Sise start he Is set back a yard; for the
second offence an additional yard, and for
'ne third offence he is disqualified. This is
.ae identical rule which is followed in the
Angiish Amateur Athletic Association
championships. To men who have been
used to having this rule strictly enforced
seemed odd at London in 1903 that the
s'arter made no effort TO penalize men
I'r making a false start. The men who
Vnehded were for the most part Continen-
~i runners, who seemed wholly unable 10
s0cusSon themselves to the English and
"e american methods OF steadying them
ss"es on the mark and waiting for the
fS'oi AS result many Of the athletes
go" very bold and apparently tried to beat
"o PISTOL II was intimated that in a num-
Dsr OF cases they did this and were not
Nsiieo pack by the starter. 1t was even
s"d.seo that in the final of the 10O-metre
sh walker made a number of false
~ and when the men finally did get
icy ne beat all his competitors off the
, He latest announcement from the Amer
,S oVmpic committee makes 1t plain
1' une track and field sections will not
piise as many men as some persons
g. oeen led to suppose. The official in
oon auon Is that the American team will
,o slst OF about 100 men. in which event the
,Ns wiz be practically the same size as in
r.. Inc belief that the American team
.,S Suu consist Of 80 men was caused by the
.eottInent that 81 wa La La q Ahia