Evening star., 1932-08-08
NURMI FORGOTTEN
AS 25 MARKS FALL
u. S. Takes is Titles to Win
Biggest Olympic Victory
in 20 Years.
BY ALAN GOULD,
Associated Press Sports Editor.

classic Olympic marathon with a
record-breaking performance, and
to the sweeping triumphs of
Americas faSt-Stepping, Nightly
ing boys and girls, go the chief
honors of the Olympic track and
field championships today.
While the forces of the United States
were crowning their team triumph yes
terday with amazing flashes of relay
speed, adding four new world records to
the dizzy whirl in the Olympic Stadium,
zabala was plodding the city streets,
wearing down his rivals with machine
like strides that carried him strongly to
the finish in the new Olympic record
time of 2 hours, 81 minutes, 36 seconds
for the route of 26 miles 1886 yards.
THE victory of the 2O-year- old Argen-
l. tine, whose swift pace broke the
hearts of a half dozen favorites, carried
him home 200 yards ahead of Sam
Ferris, British veteran. A Finlander,
another Briton, two Japanese and an
American were next at the line of fin
ish. This race capped the climax of
eight days of athletic competition I'M
paralleled in world history
There is many an Olympic battle still
to be fought along a rapidly-Widening
front, with California'S crew engaged
in the defense of American eight-oared
honors, the Yankee boxers facing brisk
skirmisheS and U. S. swimmers chal-
lenged already by Japan's sensational
young aquatic stars, but it will be a long
time before the thrills, the astounding
records, the arguments and the official
''boners" of the track and field cham
pionShipS are forgotten.
There never has been a combined
athletic show for men and women like
it. They thought much of the kick"
was extracted when the peerless Paavo
Nurmi was banished from the games,
two days before they started. But per-
formances from the outset not only
were so startling as to make about
1000 spectators forget all about the
great Finn during the week, but suf-
ficiently good as well to knock the last
of Nurmi's Olympic marks from the
record lists
WHAT Paavo might have done yes
w terday in the Marathon is some
thing else, subject that may be
used for further debate, but Nurmi at
his very best would have had his hands
full trying to head off Zabala
Nurmi throughout the week sat in the
stands while his native Finland's stars
were being handed their biggest set
backs in Olympic competition since the
war, watching Polander, Kusocinski.
take away the 10,000-meter honors;
seeing Earring Jim" Bausch, an Amer
ican, surpass Finland's favored all
around stars in a world record decath-
Ion performance, and an italian, Bee
cali, put Finland's champion and the
rest Of the worlds milerS to rout in the
classic 1900
Finland won only three individual
championships, while the United States
celebrated its comeback on home soil
and the fastest of all Olympic tracks
by romping off with II Of the % mems
championships, in addition to five of the
six women's title events, for the best
all-around Olympic showing the U. S.
A. has known in 20 years. The Amer
leans won the mems team champion
ship with the aggregate Of 2lS points,
to Finland's second-place 72. The mar
gin was even wider in the feminine di-
vision, where the American girls rolled
up 1872 points to 1872 for Germany, in
second place.
THE United States got off to such
Il i flying start there was never any
. question of where the team
supremacy rested, but the battle for
individual honors packed a succession
of thrills and performances that, in
retrospect make the truth seem stranger
than fiction.
All told, Olympic records were wiped
out completely in 25 of the % events
for men and women. The only events
8 that escaped the record-smashing proc
ess were the hammer throw, broad
jump and high jump, besides the $4,000
meter walk, a new event, for which the
time must stand at least as new
+ Olympic standard. World records were
surpassed in l3 events, including all
six of the Women'S contests, and
equaled in three others.
They can blame the big comeback of
Americas speed kings in world compe-
tition and the stadium's lightning track
for most Of the record breaking stuff,
but that doesn't explain the competi-
tive inspiration that enabled American
giants like Leo Sexton and John
Anderson TO heaVe the weights to
record distances, that led Nambu of
! Japan to triple jump farther than any
up the staggering total of 8,462 points
in the decathlon, and Zabala TO run the
fastest Of all Olympic marathons
:. These athletes simply had it,"
AEDDIE ToLAN, the dusky little
i IL double sprint king and Bill Carr
u worlds greatest quarter-miler, led
: the United States swiftly back to an
f. enjoyment Of running prestige not ex-
q perienced since the 1912 Olympics
I while George Sailing Of Iowa brought
high hurdling supremacy back home
again in series or sweeping victories
/ America was at least 1-2 in the 100
200, AGO runs and l10-metPr hurdles
as well as the shotput and discus.
Carr. whose 400meter triumph over
Ben Eastman in the world-record time
of 46.2 seconds was one OF the great
achievements of the week, contributed
to the final whirl yesterday. With a
running start, on the anchor leg Of the
,60O-meter relay he duplicated his rec
ord time to help the Americans beat
Great Britain. best of five rivals. and
lower their own world record to min
. uts 80 seconds.
Cars mates in this record busting
four-lap journey were Ivan FTIoua of
i. Indiana, Ed Ablowich Of Southern Cali
:, fOrnia and Karl Warner Of Yale, who
/. ran their 400-meter tricks, respectively,
i in All, 47.6 and 47.3 seconds.
THE American 4OO-meter quartet,
l. consisting Of Bob Kiesel, Emmett
TOPPING, Hector Dyer and Frank
Wykoff, all four of whom were shut cut
of the individual sprint forces, redeemed
themselves by winning their relay event
in 40 seconds fiat, likewise knocking
their own best time. as well as all other
records into the discard. These flyers
beat Germany's highly-rated quartet by
10 yards.
Babe Didrkson. the remarkable
{ Texas girl athlete. failed to achieve her
goal of three individual championships
and as many world records, when she
was defeated in the high jump finals
by her teammate. Jean Shirley o1
Philadelphia. Nevertheless, Miss Did
rikson was the sensation of the wom-
ems athletics. triumphing in the jay,
elm and 30-meter hurdles and finishing