The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-07-11

OLYMPIC STADIUM COLOMBES France, July 10.--(By Associated Press. l-W Within two hours this after noon Paave Nurmi, Finland,s great dis. tance runner raced to spectacular vic tories in the 1,500s and 500 metre events, breaking the Olympic records at both distances and swim ginan Olympic triumph ais no individual has ever achieved before. 7sSsvrs s
 ,sl Nurrai captured the 1 500 mere run against a fine field iif three minutes and 53 3-5 seconds, chipping off 1-5 seconds for the old record, but failing :. by 2-5 of a second to equal his own world record. He won the 5000 me . tres from his fellow countryman, Will 1 lie Ritola, in IA :31 1-5 seconds, beat ing both the Olympic and the world record by several seconds.
 U. s. Marches On
 But even this supertriumph of Fin lands greatset ace could not check the onward march of the United States for: the Americans demonstrated vast superiority in the pole vault and ham mer throw, the remaining finals of the fifth day of the Olympic competition i and heightened their mounting point over the rival Scandinavian nation. The glory which went in double measure to Nurrni who also shar- ed for the day by two young Amer jeans, Fred Tootell, Boston, A. A., who captured the hammer throw by a decisive margin from his countryman, Matt U. McGrath, New York, A. O., veteran of four ,Olympics,s and, Lee Barnes, the 17-year-old California high school boy. who won the pole vault laurels in the jump off with his coast rival, Glenn Graham, after they had tied for first place 4af height 3.95 metres, (12 feet, 114a inches), which equaled the Olympic record.
 < New Hero Appears
 Another hero sprang to the front in Joseph Imbach, unsung and unherald- ed Swiss whirlwind, who won his heat in the second trials of the 4OO-metre dun in the world record time of AS seconds, performance which came with startling suddenress.
 f A crowd of nearly 25;000, the largest since the opening day; assembled in the Expectation of witnessing the greatest of struggles for h6nors in the epic Olympic battle and they were not dis appointed. They saw1and,. paid deaf ening tribute to probably the greatest single days athletic achievement in memory, when Nurmi swept over the line, winner in his, second effort of the day, of the 5000 metre run after a thrilling race with, his countryman, Ritola, who earned no. small share of the glory himself, when, competing for the fifth straight day, he pushed his more illustrious teammate to a record in a finish which saw the two NordiC stars only one yard apart.
 Ritola Fights GaEneIy
 Perhaps more amazing than Nmmis triumphs, which seemed a foregone con clusion, were the marvellous stamina andespeed of eRitola, already twice 2 victor in record time, .whos though rae. ing 26,000 metres in five days, yet had power to run stride for stride with the worlds fastest distance man.
 eNurmi's 1,500-metre victory was so decisive as to rob it of the spectacular elements of the longer race. Ray Wat son, the American star, provided the chief thrill. when he stuck gamely to the heels of the flying Finn until SO0- metres from the tape, But Watson, as he ran, could not match, the machine like strides of the speeding runner ahead of him and wilted so badly near the end that he was unplaced.
 Nurmi Slows Up
 Nurmi slowed up crossing the line, looking over his shoulder at Scharer, another Swiss star, who. came from the ruck to take second place in the last few strides from Stallard, Great Brit ain, who collapsed at the tape just as his team mate, Lowe, the 800-metre winner, came through to capture fourth place from the pair of Americans, Ray Bueker and Lloyd Hahn.
 The 5,000-metre run was a three-cor- ,nered affair for nearly two-thirds of the distance, with Elvin Wide, the Ewede, keeping pace with Nurmi, and Ritola far ahead of the rest of the pack