Two Wallaseyans were at the White City, London, last Monday on the occasion of the visit of the two celebrated Swedish athletes, Gundar Haeg and Arne Andersson.
B. O. Kivlin, who, by virtue of winning the Southern Command, 120 yards hurdles, and hop, stop and jump championships, and running second to Pte. Jurgenson, the South African, in the Army 120 yards hurdles at Aldershot, was reserve for the Army team, was one. I was the other (writes John Edwards, Hon. Sec., Wallasey Athletic Club). Interest of the 60,000 crowd something like the same number were shutout - was focussed mainly on the one and two-mile events, in which the Swedes were competing, but C. B. Holmes, running for the Army, received a great ovation on winning both the sprints, the 100 yards in 9.9 seconds and the 220 yards in 22.2 seconds, the second man in each race being J. McDonald Bailey, a Jamaican negro of the R.A.F., a real champion of the near future.
The mile proved to be the thrilling event which everyone hoped for J. W. Alford, Welsh champion led off at a brisk pace and Sidney Wooderson jumped in right behind him with Andersson on his heels. A furlong out the pace slowed and became false, and it was left to one of the second strings, H. W. Pearce, to take up the running and restore the speed. Andersson went with him and Wooderson trailing a yard in the rear. Andersson took up the running at one lap, quarter mile, and went away with Wooderson right behind him to complete the half-mile in 2 minutes 3.2 seconds. The third lap found the Swede, trying hard to shake off his diminutive rival, and at one time he looked over his shoulder to see how the Blackheath Harrier was faring. Wooderson was going well, however, and with a lap to go eased himself into the lead, and maintaining a hard pace, tried to open a gap between himself and, his distinguished rival in the back straight. It was a
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Source - Wallasey News - Saturday, 11/08/1945
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