Records show skiing dates back to antiquity confirm that skiing was popular Says the Encyclopaedia Britan- nica: “Ski (she or ske), the wooden snow-shoe used in Scandinavia and neighboring countries for travel over the snow. (Icelandic, scidh, snow-shoe, properly, ‘piece of wood.’)” Skiing enthusiasts who are flock- ing to Grouse and Hollyburn moun- tains in this ideal winter sports weather would: probably think the description a bit stuffy, quaint or antique. _ The fact is, skiing goes back to antiquity. Xenophon tells of the “shoes or patterns of skins” with which the horses of the Armenians were shod to prevent them sink- ing in the snow. Procopius says the ancient Lapps wore “sliders” in winter. The old Norse sagas long before the Christian era. A ninth century northern poet re- ferred to ships as “‘the ski of the sea.” And the oldest picture of a skier dates from the eleventh cen- tury. : foe Skiing as a sport began nearly 100 years ago in the Norwegian district of Telemark. It spread rapidly and in 1892 the first great international contest was held at Holmenkollen, near Oslo. In 1883 a traveller gave “a pair of ski (the veddy-proper Britannica insists that ski is the plural of ski) to a Swiss monk in the Order of St. Bernard, and soon the hill- sides were clogged with flying friars. Canada is one of the foremost ski countries in the world today, and our famous Revelstoke hill is the world’s fastest “jumping hill.” Skiing has military uses, and troops of many countries receive training in the sport. Under Gustavus Adolphus the Swedish army equipped the first infantry division with ski equip- ment. In Norway ski units were established in 1710. During the First World War the French set up the famous Chasseurs Alpins. |_ Soviet and Finnish troops conduct- ed extensive ski operations in 1939- 40. Many Canadian troops were taught to ski during the Second World War. In the-last Winter Olympics (the Soviet Union did not participate) top ski honors went to Norway and Finland. : Britisher impressed by Soviet wrestling It’s easy to see why they win George Mackenzie, honorary sec- retary of the British Amateur Wrestling Association, recently re- turned from a visit to Moscow, where he attended a board meet- ing of the International Amateur Wrestling Federation. On his re- turn he gave his impressions of Soviet sports, particularly wrest- ling, in an article published by the London Daily Worker. He wrote, in part: “From what I saw I can now realize why it was that Russia won so many gold medals in the Hel- sinki Olympiad in 1952. “They firmly believe that only the best is good enough, and to this end the best performances re- quire the best equipment. “Tt seemed that for every sphere of physical sport—gymunastics, box- ing, wrestling and weight lifting— there was more than enough equip- ment to meet demands. “I was most impressed by a meet- ing with the Deputy Minister of Health under whose office comes sports and recreation. He stated that there were 2,000 students in the Stalin Institute of Physical Ed- ucation for a four-year course. “Naturally, being interested in wrestling, I requested to know how many active wrestlers there were in the Soviet Union. I was inform- ed that about 200,000 was the num- ber. “Asking about training, and how the trainees found time, I was in- Soviet wrestlers in action. formed that if a man was required for some special training or to take part in some. particular event, then he was allowed the necessary time for the training. : “He did not suffer any loss in wages as a result. “IT was also interested in the statement that 15 percent of the trade union contributions went to- | ward physical education; there is something to think about. “The opportunity to see both competitive events: and training practise at senior institutes and junior institutes came my way, and the impression I formed was the same at both—the seriousness with which physical education was ap- proached. “This attitude in the course of |time must produce first class. re- sults, the beginning of which we have already seen in Helsinki and the visit of the Moscow Dynamo to Great Britain. : “It is easy to understand why the Russians took first place in the world wrestling championships in Naples last April. They now look forward to retaining this hon- or in the next world championships to take place in Tokyo on May 22-25.” Gert Whyte's SPORTLIGHT | am indebted to the Hungarian News and Information Service in London for this story: One of the Hungarian journal- ists who visited England to report the Hungary-England match was sitting talking to Jozsef Bozsik, MP, Hungary’s right half, during an interval in the table tennis match after the Wembley game, when a small, fat stranger ap- proached them. “Mr. Bozsik?” he asked in Hun- garian. “Yes,” said Bozsik. “IT would like to talk with you a little—alone if you don’t mind.” What happened next is_ best told in the words of the journal- ist,. writing in the newspaper Szabad Nep: . They moved to one side. Three minutes later Bozsik came and sat down again. “He promised me a hundred thousand dollars,” he said simply. - I looked at him. “And you?” “What do you think!” Bozsik smiled. “I tried to” explain to him that there ‘are bigger things in life than money. “For example, that one can light a Harmonia cigarette when one likes. And how good it is to walk to the end of the street at home in Kispest. I know and love many people there. “Tf I feel like it, I stop and talk to them a bit. If I don’t, then I shut myself in my room and read. Or I go and see my mother whom I love very much. These are simple little things. But is there anywhere else in the world that some one could replace them?” He dismissed. the whole affair with a gesture of his hand. “Don’t let’s talk about it. How could I expect that dollar-head to under- stand this sort of thing?” * x x A Soviet team won the world speed - skating championships on Sunday this week, making a clean sweep of the three ton spots in a ‘ thrilling win over the Scandin- avians at Hokkaido, Japan. Japan, Norway, Sweden and Finland were the other countries which entered teams. In the last Olympics, Norway took the 1,500 metres, 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres speed- skating titles. * *« x It surprised no one when Doug Hepburn was named Athlete of the Year at the Vancouver Sun‘s award banquet Saturday night. As we said in this column long ago, no other B.C. athlete was even in the. running. Guest speaker Bill Veeck kept the audience roaring with his baseball reminiscences. I liked his stories of the last-place St. Louis Browns. “One day we were playing the Yankees,” he began a tale. Then he added: “We had to, we were scheduled.” * * * Maurice (Rocket) Richard gets paid for a ghost-written column which appears under his byline in the French-language weekly Sam- edi-Dimanche. Presumably the Rocket’s ghost. talks over things with him before pounding out his piece. A short time ago Richard’s col- umn blasted President Clarence Campbell of the National Hockey League, calling him (rightly enough) a dictator. Campbell fumed, and got te work behind the scenes. Result is that Richard penned an abject. apology last week, agreed to quit “writing” a column while he remains an active play- er, and posted a $1,000 cheque as evidence of good faith. Most fans will realize what this means. The ‘Rocket has been gagged. He submitted rather than face the alternative of being kick- ed out of the NHL. Events prove, rather than- dis- prove, the fact that Campbell is indeed a dictator. Ouch! That one hurt! Cameras using electronic speed lights caught these split-second distorted expressions on the faces of various professional boxers in recent bout. Bill Graham, middleweight contender, receiving an uppercut from Kid Gavilan (upper left). Gavilan takes one from Graham (upper right). is shown Champion Jimmy Bean‘s hard right hand finds Nick Barone’s face (lower left )and Jim Bivins’ right connects with Charley Williams’ iaw (lower right). It’s foo many punches like these that put fighters on “Queer Street.” i PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JANUARY 22, 1954.— PAGE 11