1937-03-24 — Page 20

THE CHINA MAIL, MARCH 24, 1987

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BRITISH - & AMERICANS IN SPORT OUTLOOK

Jack Lovelock, The Famous Runner,

Gives His Experiences

WRITING in the December edition of "World Sports," just after he had been beaten in America

in the second Mile of the Century" by Archie San Romani Jack Lovelock touches upon se veral things which explain the different attitudes of the American and Briton towards sport.

"THE

THE success of American athletes in the Olympic Games is one more example brought right home to us of the greater success of our trans- Atlantic cousins at this branch of sport. For the last five years I have made comparatively fre- quent visits to America, and have studied at first hand ath- letic conditions there. Obser- vations at many schools, univer- sities, and clubs, conversations with the leading coaches and with their most prominent ath- letes have all convinced me that the fundamental underlying difference is one of tempera- ment, and that the details of organisation and technique leading to success are the out- come of mental rather than of physical or climatic factors.

FERENT ATTITUDE

The ale attitude of the American people to sport differs greatly from that of the British nation. An entirely different value is placed upon competi tion and competitive success, with the result that the public, the Press, and the contestants tend to regard their sport in rather a different way. Conse quently everything is done on a différent scale, the economic factor is stressed-more strong- ly, organisation is more com- plete, and the final results ob- tained are so much more effec- tive.

"It is foreign to the British temperament to play their games with such intensity as do the Americans, just as it is for- eign to it for the spectators to: enter into the spirit of sport with such keenness, and fre- quently with such partnership.

MUST SUPPLY IT

"But what the American pub lic demands, the American Press cries out for, and the athletes have to supply. The American Press is an organisa-⠀ tion for whose moral outlook 1 cannot feel anything approach- ing the admiration I have for its efficiency; it realises that the economic aspect, a factory ich looms much more prominently in sport there than it does în England, demands that it sup- plies the public with news-of real Press value; it server its public for sordid reasons rathe than its athletes for a

ones in a manner more blatant than the public of England would, I hope, tolerate.

"The result is that athletes hletics are boosted and

ballyhooed out of all

to their merit

to believe what it

lieve, flocks in hor

stiles, lands athletic

above their true

public,

them as readily as 80 suffer a lapse

handsome reluar athletic

schools, and universities as a source of income, by the Press likewise for financial reasons, and by the public as a means of entertainment en masse.

- "It has become more under- standable to me that boys at preparatory schools, at public schools, and at university should believe it well worth

HR

while to spend many boūrious years in the acquisition of tech arque and the perfection of style that the normal British person would not have the p tience to attempt.

"There is a pride in technical accomplishment, as well as ̃a determination to work strongly towards what appears to them a worth-while-end. Coaches (Continued on Page 22)

THIS IS ALL WRONG

BUT

L

H.B's ALL RIGHT!

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