Evening star., 1924-01-06
BY STERLING HELIG.
CHAMON1A, French Alps,
December %.

December q.
~ PEEp. hockey and fancy skat-
ing open the Olympic games Of
1924. Here is a novelty that
~ would astonish the old cham
pions of antique Greece. In the
white SHOWS of the grandest high val
ley of the Alps, surrounded by Mont
Blanc and sister peaks, the biggest
and most modern skating, hockey.
curling and skijoring stadium i'll the
world has been constructed at Cha
monixf in honor of Frances turn to
have the games.
Yet winter sports were absolutely
unknown to the original Olympic
games amid the laurels and the roses
this luxurious romping on the ice
from snowbound palace hotels, iso-
lated, high above the world, select
and noble, white, all white
The old Greeks would be astounded
to see the bob.esds and sledders
whisk ed. in a steel basket, through
the air. from high-strung cables run
ming up the Aiguille du Midi, of the
Mont Blanc range, to an altitude of
S.94O meters (2H miles), to race down
toboggan slide of the Alps,
But the skating, hockey and sled
ding pure SPORTY would be grasped
and welcomed by the old Greek
champions at first glance.
So open the Olympic games of
1924.
Americans are already tentative
favorites for the opening days-for
fancy skating, Sherwin Badger (the
American champion) and Nat Niles.
The ladies are Mrs. Charles 3.
Blanchard (American champion) and
Miss Beatrice Laughran (runner-up
OF the last championships).
Most of the hockey players are ex-
pected from the Boston Athletic AS
sociation; but the final makeup of
the team is not to be announced until
the very latest date possible to get
the entries to the French Olympic
committee.
A similar policy applies to the
American speed skaters. Charlie Jew
traw. from Lake Placid international
outdoor champion), Harry kaskey of
Chicago (American and Canadian out
door Champion. and Joe Moore of
New York international indoor
champion) are early favorites-al-
though it is not sure that Moore, in
any case, will be on the team.
He is one of the best artificial ice
rink skaters that America has eyer
had; but there is said to be vast diff
ference between speed skating on an
indoor track Of ten or more laps to
the mile, and on an outdoor ellipse of
500 meters, whose two straight
stretches are 140 meters each-as i'll
the new Olympic stadium of cha
mounix.
THIS ice stadium, said TO be the
= biggest in the world, has $4,000
square yards surface. of which $4,000
square yards are in ice. The re-
mainder, In addition to the tribunes,
is made up of an exterior skijoring
track Of snow, $50 meters to the lap
and eight meters wide, with the de-
velopment of turns permitting the
most interesting competitions in this
queer sport, where the ski skinner
oman or girl on immensely long,
slender runners, like those OF a sleigh,
and used as snowshoes) stiffens his
legs Cor hersl. and is pulled by
horse-which it is an art to jockey!
Then, inside the grand elliptical
skating track. Is the grand rink for
hockey and fancy skating, with five
links for curling.
The electric lighting is another
novelty. The lamp posts Of the stad-
ium tracks, etc, carry 1,000-candle
electric lights, at height of 90 feet,
with refiectors.
From Lake Placid, ". Z, comes
news that the American skaters have
been practicing on specially built
rinks designed by the Olympic COM
mittee as exact duplicates of the
rinks at Chamounix-greatiy differ
ing from the usual rinks to which
Americans are accustomed.
Our skiers, also, when you read this,