Sports and Games; Automobile Races; Aviation
Exposition contests include nearly every branch of sport—National
Championships of the A. A. U.—Two great automobile races, the
International Grand Prix and the Vanderbilt Cup, already run—Polo and
Golf—Sensational flights of the aviators—The International Yachting
Regatta and other aquatic events—All-star baseball expected in the
fall.
An account of the Exposition, and indeed, American athletic history for the year 1915, would be incomplete without a description of the sports programme. This outline of games and exhibitions includes nearly every branch of sport familiar to the American public, and its wide appeal has attracted many thousands to the athletic fields and gymnasiums of the Exposition. Although ten months of sport was originally intended by the athletic committee, this period has been somewhat abbreviated by circumstances, though a practically continuous performance has held sway since February 22.
International competition, at first intended in many branches of the programme, was generally abandoned on account of the European conflict; but the want of foreign representation has in no way lessened the quality of competition, or dampened the attractiveness of the summer contests. Some of Europe's star track men are entered here, in spite of conditions on the continent.
Perhaps the most popular attractions of the programme are the national championships, held every year under the auspices of the Amateur Athletic Union. At the convention of that body during November, 1913, prior to the death of its president, James E. Sullivan, it was voted unanimously to award all of the organization's events, with the exception of boxing, to the Panama-Pacific Exposition. These championships are the blue-ribbon events of the amateur world. They include track and field games, swimming, boxing, wrestling and indoor gymnastics. Three of these championships were staged in San Francisco before the opening of June.
In basket ball, the first of the national competitions, premier honors went to a California organization, the San Francisco Olympic Club. Next in line came gymnastics, followed by wrestling. Although these sports are not immensely popular with the athletic enthusiasts, generous galleries turned out to see the American champions in action.
The more important part of the Amateur Athletic Union programme was scheduled for the summer months, when the track and field championships are held. Facilities for staging these games are ideal. The cinder path, situated at the far end of the Exposition grounds, with unexcelled scenic advantages, is reputed to be the equal of any athletic stadium in the country. The oval measures one-third of a mile to the lap, with a 220-yard straightaway flanking the grandstand. The earlier games convinced Eastern athletes that there could be no complaint against facilities.
The senior and junior track and field championships of the Amateur Athletic Union loom up as the banner track events of the programme. National stars have signified their intention of participating in these games, and it will be surprising if many national records are not broken. In addition to these games, the International Olympic Committee, which controls all the modern Olympic meets, conferred upon the Exposition the right to hold the Modern Pentathlon, this being the first time it has been contested outside of the Olympic Games. In addition, America is to have for the first time the Decathlon, and the famous Marathon race originated in Greece centuries ago, and impressively revived during recent years by the more important athletic bodies of the world.
Besides the Amateur Athletic Union track and field games, an abundance of competitions, ranging from grammar school contests to collegiate struggles, was arranged. Among the first of these, the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Conference, was won by the University of California from a field of collegiate teams representing the entire Pacific Coast. Several high and grammar school contests have attracted spectators to the stadium. One thousand grammar school athletes entered the lists upon the Exposition cinder path, and staged a carnival that stands as a record in California, and approaches any American event of its kind both in the number of entrants and the class of competition offered.
Automobile racing, of the kind that thrills, was furnished by the Exposition during its early weeks. Two events of international importance were run upon the Exposition grounds, and in each instance attracted one hundred thousand spectators to the course. The first of these was the International Grand Prix, run in the rain and under other conditions far from ideal, over a four-mile course for the distance of four hundred miles. Sensation followed sensation in this feature, a final winner being supplied in the swarthy Darius Resta, who drove a Peugeot car for an average speed of fifty-six miles, 7:07:57 being his actual time. Other drivers of international reputation appeared in this struggle, among them De Palma, Hughes and Wilcox. Handsome prizes were distributed to the winners in these events.