Evening star., 1936-03-18
NV ALAN G0IILD.

n YEW YORK, March 1870 far
M as America is concerned,
Glenn Cunningham remains
d. the man to beat" in the
Olympic 1900 meters-the metric
mile"
This, at least, is the consensus OF
our foremost track and field coaches,
who do not consider that this Winters
developments, including a series of
setbacks for the world mile record
holder, indicating Cunningham is on
the down grade.
To the contrary. it is their view that
the great KanSan has rated" him.
self carefully and purpoSely, with the
Olympic tryouts and the Berlin games
as his main objectives. Cunningham
himself confirmed this opinion after
outsprinting his two indoor rivals,
Gene Venzke and Joe Mangan, in the
fantastically-run Columbian mile last
Saturday night.
Rivals Have Improved.
THE explanation for Cunningham's
defeats in most of the Winters big
races is not that Glenn has slipped
but that Gene and Joe have improved
tremendously. Until the history
making Wanamaker mile at the Mill
rose A. A. games there wasn't the
slightest hint that Mangan had All
performance in his system, with
Venzke at his heels. Not since 1882
has Venzke flashed the form that car
ried him to world record victory over
Cunningham in the National A. A. U.
1,500-meter championship. Glenn
himself was inside his own record for
that event.
Just how, you may ask, does all this
tend to brighten Cunningham's
chances of being Americas No. bid
der for honorS in the Olympic classic?
The answer, to quote Lawson Robert
son Of Pennsylvania, the Olympic head
coach, is that Glenn, at top form, can
run a faster quarter mile or faster
half mile than any of his rivals
cunningham" Robertson adds,
"can do a half mile in ISL. That's
why he holds all world mile running
records. Glenn wasn't In the best of
shape earlier this Winter, and he
wasn't prepared for the hot pace Man
gan and Venzke were setting. Or, to
put it another way, Cunningham him.
self could not sustain a fast enough
pace to shake of either of these great
runners"
VenZke's Comeback Thrills.
NENzKES dazzling comeback, never
~ theless, is the Olympic years high
spot. The future foot-racing of Penn'S
popular picture runner will be followed
with special interest because he was
frustrated in his quest for interna-
tional honors in 1882, following SIM
tlarly great indoor season. Cunning
ham was Venzke's nemesis then and
for three subsequent years, but Gene
turned the tables in spectacular fash
ion after trailing Glenn in % out Of
% races.
The fact is Uncle Sam may suffer
from an embarrassment of riches in
picking his three 1,500-meter entries
for the Olympics. Bill Bonthron, the
former Princeton captain, whose cy-
clonic finishes made foot-racing his
tory in 1888 and 1884, is training con-
scientiously for a comeback. Tiger
Bill abstained from all indoor racing
on the advice Of his coach, Matty
Gels, in order to point exclusively for
the Olympic trials.
It appears one of this quartet could
shift to the 5000 meters, where the
United States of America has had
little talent and less luck in recent
Olympiads. But each is intent upon
the metric mile" which America has
not won since Mel Sheppard led the
field at London in 1908, and it's GER
tain to be hot fight.
Plenty of Competition.
TOR all their brilliance, our 1900
= meter candidates are far from
being sure things" in the Olympics,
as E. C. Billy Hayes, Indiana's head
coach, points out.
New Zealand's great Jack Lovelock
has twice come over here to give our
best a sound licking. Yet Lovelock
himself has been beaten with decisive
ness by Stanley WoodeTson, Britain's
crack club runner.
Moreover, Italy's Luigi Beccah, the
haired boy who ran them all
eroggy in the Olympic stretch four
years ago, probably will be back to
defend his 1,500-meter title. From
this distance the metric mile" looks
very much like another free-for-all.
(Next: Distance races.)