Evening star., 1932-04-14
F|NNS ALONE WILL
PRESENT A THREAT
Lentinen Is Declared to Be
Greater Than Nurmi When
Latter Was at Best.
BY LAWRENCE PERRY.

N YEW YORK, April 14.-AmaZ-
M ing bursts of speed in the
/ Y quarter and half miles by
Ben Eastman of Stanford,
Leo Venzke's distance running,
George Spitz'S jumping and the
shot-putting exploits of Leo Sex
ton may be accepted as definite
indications of the way American
youngsters are rising to the call
Of the forthcoming Olympiad at
Los Angeles.
But. looking forward to the quality
OF competition which the American
track and field team will meet next
August, conviction is established that
too many boys with the wings OF
Mercury attached to their feet or too
many young giants thewed like Hercu-
les cannot in view Of the need for them,
rally to the national standard
TONSIDER, for example, the galaxy
~ of distance performers which Fin
land will send to the international
meet-Lehtinen, greater they say, than
Nurm1 in his prime; Virtanen, Islo-
Hollo, Larva, Purje, Lukkoloa, Ritola,
the marathoner, and finally Nurmi
himself, if he can establish himself as
simon pure amateur. With or with
out Nurmi, here is group which may
make clean sweep of all the Olympic
running events from the $500 meters
to the marathon, unless VenZke and
other distance men yet to come for
ward can head them of.
To the countries whose athletes ha va
always been troublesome to American
performers In the Olympics must now
be added nations which hitherto have
caused us little concern. Japan, for
instance. Mikio Oda, who won the
running hop, step and jump at the
OlympicS four years ago, Is very likely
to repeat that victory at Los Angeles,
and Chubei Nambu, who last Fall did
26 feet 21s inches in the running broad
the accepted world record is 26 feet "a
inch-iS all set to astonish the world
next Summer.
Hungary will send over a 162-foot dis
Gus thrower. We have no platter man
who can come near this distance The
Hungarian team, too, will contain a
5l-foot shotputter a middle-d distance
sprinter who has done the 400 meters
in 48 seconds and the 800 in 1853
rather high-clasS athletic goulash.
DOLAND has at least one great bet
L in KuSocimski, who in the last year
has done the 5000 meters in 1912.
II he does this at Los Angeles, he
should win the event.
Then take Duda, the Czechoslovakian
weight man, who last September equaled
the world record with the 16-pound
shot, So feet TX inches; Hirshfield of
Germany, the present world record
holder, who has consistently been
tossing the 16-pound ball over So feet
of late; DR.. OCallaghan Of Ireland. the
present Olympic champion hammer
thrower, whose most recent mark is 1877
feet-take this trio and you have q
group who will assist others named
above in sapping the total Of points to
be won by the American team.
In view of the many potential point
winners which the United States will
send to the mark in practically every
event on the program, there is no
reason at all to believe that any nation
will be able to defeat U.s. But in view
of facts cited in the foregoing, 1t is by
no means certain that the American
victory will be as decisive as some seem
10 think
At any rate there is certain to be the
most fervid sort of competition all along
the line in the Olympic Stadium at
Los Angeles.