New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1928-06-06


/ ASSOCIATED Press Sports Editor)
New York, June R}-Irish-
American supremacy in the Olympic
| hammcr-throw, traditional and I'M
broken in the history of the Inter
, national games, runs the risk of be
I ing broken this year.
Fred Tootell, the famous Bow
doin star and greatest hammer
4 thrower developed in America in
the last decade, will not defend the
Olympic crown he won so easily at
| Paris four years. ''Toots" turned
coach for a while and is out of
competition.
! Matt McGrath, captain of the
New York police, is still in the
game and able to toss the l6-pound
ball out a substantial distance. But
Matt is at the so mark, slowing up.
/ IF he makes the team it will De his
! fifth trip to the Olympics, but he is
not now able to approach the form
that made him worlds champion
and record breaker in 1912.
! Paddy Ryan, another of the Old
Guard. may stage a comet back. He
is now in Ireland, but his friends
here have been informed he still
keeps in practice and would like to
make the team. Paddy set the
worlds record Of 1S9 feet, 6la
inches in 1913 and won the Olympic
championship in 1920 for the United
States.
Jack Merchant, former University
OF California star. and J. NJ Nc
Eachern of the Olympic club, San
Francisco, are two other availa BILE
veterans. 10th were members of
the 1924 team, but McEachern was
the only one to score, taking sixth
place. Merchant has shown better
form this spring, but seldom does
better than 10 feet.
The colleges have turned out
some likely timber, but it is mostly
undevelopeG. IIammcr-t hrowers,
like distance runners, need to
"ripcn" before they reach their
best. Norwood Wright of Cornell,
the new I. c. A. A. A. A. champion,
may turn out to be the best of the
lot. A great competitor. Wright
has improved considerably. AL
though he had not exceeded ISL
feet in competition previously, he
tossed the iron ball out 1G7 feet,
I IA inches to beat Edmund Black
of Maine by three inches. More
over Wright flung the winning toss
on his last trial.
kots Of Michigan, who won the
Big Ten championship on the same
day with a throw of 161 feet, 7 rs
inches, a new Conference record;
Don Gwinn Of Pittsburgh. Howard
Linn. former Pittsburgh star: Or
Vile (Tiny) Hewitt of the Army and
Marian Ide. who won the 1927 in
tercollegiate title for Penn State in
1927, are other Olympic POSSIBLE
ties.
1t would not he surprising to see
Wright, Black, Merchant and Nc
Grath compose the Big -Four select
ed for the Olympic Team-un1ess
Ryan decides to stage a comeback.
McGrath shares the general view
that America will have a hard time
keeping the title this year in view
OF the development of hammer
throwing talent abroad. particularly
in England, the Scandinavian coun-
tries and Germany. There was a
time when the Europeans regarded
the hammer as a trick event and
desired it abolished from the Olym-
pic program. The Greeks did re-
fuse to include it in the programs
of Athens in 1896 and 1906.
We may even be lucky to place
this time" AYERS Captain Matt
Two Swedes, two Firms and an
Engllshman seem to have things
sewed up. I know that SKIOLD of
Sweden. Erickson of Finland and
Nokes of England all can throw in
Olympic competition around 173
feet"
Matt would have scorned that
mark in 1912 when he won the
Olympic crown and set a record of
119 feet 8 2-5 inches at Stockholm.
Matt unfurled that heavc on his
last effort in q or-die-in-t he at
tempt throw after having fouled on
his previous tries In his four