The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1958-12-12


Good viii ~
Editor, takes q couple Of days off this week, r. J.
Rob" WunderIin does some reminiscing. Bob was
. Columbus sports writer before becoming Business
manager Of the Catholic Times and its predecessor.
fhe Columbus Register, " years ago..
BY BOB WUNDERLIN
Every four years the athletes of this revolving
globe get together for a huge clambake to promote
international good will.
The event is known as the Olympic games.
The first Olympic champion was coroebvs OF
Els. He ovtfooted . squad Of 2oo-yard dashmen in
. great foot race staged in . meadow beside the
river Alphsus IT Olympia in IT'S Be-.
1t took exactly ITO years of competition, bicker-
ing Sound familiarl, c0nniving and i'll will before
Emperor Theodosius ! OF Rome called off the athletic
carnival in 1914 A. d, to prevent the spread of fur
Their dissension among the stalwartS of the then
known world.
The next Olympic champion was not crowned
until 1895 when a Boston Irishman, a Catholic, won
the initial event in the opening of the modern Oym-
pics"
In 1894 Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a French
educator, promoted enough interest-in the name of
education and culture, to get enough athletes together
for the new Olympics in Greece in 1896,
The first event opening the modern Olympic era
was that one titled hop, step and jump event. .
More than 10000 interested and dsinfsresssd
spectators iamnsd fhe beautiful marble stadium.
Many thousands more tried to get a look at the aetivi-
flies from The hills thst rose up Just behind the stad-
tvm.
James Brenden Connolly a red-haired B~ostonian.
who had quit school because his Harvard headmaster
would not give him a leave of absence to attend the
games, stood by while the rest Of the contestants
tried their skill at the h-s&j event.
The Irsh-Catholc youth was a bit tired. Seems
that the Greeks were going by the HELLENIC calendar
group of Boston athletes had to compete on the very
day they arrived in Athens!
All these things were going through the young.
ster's mind as he raced down the jumping runway.
Then he was at the taking off spot" and he hoped,
stepped and jumped. The crowd roared.
Connolly had jumped As feet-three feet further
than any of the other contestants.
He was the first Of the modern Olympic cham
pions TO earn, victory and the tradisionaI wreath
/ talked with this later-day GORGEOUS late in 1855
"Do you remember Athens?" l asked the then 87.year-
old sport loving member of the Knights of Column
bus Council 116, Boston).
"Of course l do" he chuckled. 81 got a big kick
out of Prince George of Greece telling me was ahead
by three feet. We waited until some OF the other
topped me, the Prince came back, shook my hand and
said Connolly, you are the winner!"
Il walked across the stadium" the old gentle
man continued, land suddenly the band crashed and
there they were, playing the Anthem and raising
the flag. The people were all yelling, nike, nike and
II noticed some blvsisekeis and officers from .
US. cruiser that was fled UP In Greece in the stands.
They were whooping II up real good. u was then that
! realized ! was The first Olympic champion In almost
$500 years. II was . marvellous feeling"
The next Olympic games are scheduled for Rome
with the Winter games planned for Squaw Valley,
Calf. GReno is very near by) early in 1860.
There are many who froWn on the OlympicS.
They assert that more il-wi Is bred in the event
than good will. They point to the wrangle raised after
each series of games is completed and each nation
has its own way of scoring a winner! p
They point out to such embarrassing incidents as
that which occurred In the 1888 Olympics at Berlin
when the event turned into a fascist circus with a
sports side show.
Jesse Owens, HE brilliant Negro athlete from
Ohio State University won three championships that
year. Hitler, who had personally congratulated the
. hurried exit when Owens, supposedly a member Of
what 10 considered IN inferior people," ran the
Maxi Nordies into the ground.
Going a bit farther back, In 1882, the great Parvo
Nurmi, one of the greatest in Olympic history, travel
ed $500 miles only to be declared ineligible because
Of expenseaccount trouble.
That same year Ralph Hill, Americas hope in
the 5000 meter race, was bumped all over the track
and lost what had seemed a sure championship.
In 1928 a French boxer bit a British middle
weight. A Paris paper almost caused international
complications by asking If the Frenchman had suf-
fered any after effects!
In 1908 United States and Swedish flags were
not flown over the London stadium on opening day.
That same year the Irish athletes were Mortified
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