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MY TWO OLYMPIC TRIALS AND OLYMPICS HONORING THE OLYMPIAN'S WALL OF HONOR
THE IMPORTANT THING IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES IS NOT TO WIN BUT TO TAKE PART, THE IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE IS NOT THE TRIUMPH BUT THE STRUGGLE, THE ESSENTIAL THING IS NOT TO HAVE CONQUERED BUT TO HAVE FOUGHT WELL.
These famous words by Baron Pierre de Coubertain fit so well into my life and my Olympic activities, that I felt the need to mention them. My life, although quite interesting and busy, was filled with three life changes and many activities although not without struggles since my very childhood and several reversals connected by mistakes, which resulted in expensive lessons. Although the years when I played Football for F.C. Bolivar in La Paz, Bolivia at high altitude and later in Buenos Aires for F.C.River Plate at sea level were so busy, that I barely found time for anything else and when I left Buenos Aires at 29, partly because of a bad injury, which would have hindered me to play for first division and partly because of a silly political matter, which made me leave Buenos Aires and leave all my Soccer trophies and some Olympic items in Argentina, which left me with such emptiness from my active life, that I went for adventures in the high mountains of the Andes and the low lands of the Amazon, something I may write about later and after exploring the jungles and mountains of Bolivia, came to the United States to join my parents But I am glad, still being in fairly good health and shape for my age and very lucky, when considering the many injuries I have received by playing football-soccer in minor and major football leagues and especially in Argentina, where football is being taken very serious. I feel that God has been good to me and more so when in need and never far away and being lucky by having a wonderful wife and marriage for over forty years and our children being grown up and on their own, we can relax go to our beautiful clean beaches and travel and have enough time left to go and be involved in Olympics. This Web Site is to remember some of my Sports and Olympic experiences, since everything else in my life would have to go into a book. With my Mother being active in Sport when I was young, her two brothers being Austrian Olympians and my Dad's brother a top Austrian Skier, Sports was part of my life and upbringing. According to my parents, I kicked a small Football soon after I started walking. I was Skiing and Ice Skating at age five and playing in the boys team of F.C. Rapid in my native Vienna when I was eight years old. I left Austria in 1937 with my parents at age eleven for destination La Paz, Bolivia, where my Father, an ex Colonel from Austria, trained Soldiers of the Bolivian Army in La Paz and also owned another business with my Mother, while I went to a private American school close to our home and played Football for my school and F.C. Bolivar's youth team and trained almost daily with their first division. When I was 16 years old, River Plate of Buenos Aires came to La Paz to play against Bolivar, the best Bolivian team at the time and their coach watched me train with their first division and asked me if I would like to play for their youth team and as I got older in second division as an amateur and later in their first professional division, being one of the best teams worldwide and while playing as an amateur, they would pay all my living expenses and schooling, a dream I never thought possible. I was thrilled and Buenos Aires with the very best schools and colleges in South America, my parents thought it would be the best thing for me and so I left my parents a few weeks later, as soon as I had my 17th birthday I was off to Buenos Aires to play soccer and go to school. I loved Buenos Aires and their cultural activities, went to Operas, Concerts, Ballet, Theatre and the Sunday evening dances at our club after the game when the first division played at home, at the beautiful Estadio Monumental every other week. And so I was enrolled in an excellent private school for about a year and at 18 went to the "Universidad de Buenos Aires" the best college in Argentina and from 18 to 20 I had to serve two years of mandatory military service, which I will describe in more detail later. Otherwise life in Buenos Aires was great and always active, with 24 hour Subways, it was the Paris of South America with a never ending nightlife, Tango places and Restaurants were practically open all night and it would have been foolish to pass up such a great opportunity and since I had a lot of love and discipline for my sports and did not smoke or drink alcohol, other than the glass of wine that came with our daily lunch at the club, the only entertainment for me, other than my girlfriends, was the famous Colon Opera House which featured the world's greatest singers and concerts and the most famous singers and artists of the entire world, being an opera fan, I loved classic music since childhood, being brought up in Vienna, Austria. The next six years were very busy ones for me, with Football practice every morning five days a week in our stadium in Nunez, about fifty minutes by train from my apartment, with lunch at the club after practice, college in the afternoon and the game on Saturday or sometimes on Sunday before the big game of first division. The two years from 18 to 20, with morning football practice, college at the Universidad de Buenos Aires for four hours in the afternoon from two to six and military service after college until midnight, although luckily, with having daily Football practice and going to college, instead of spending 24 hours at military quarters, I only had to go five days a week after college for five hours a day, getting my dinners there, which was not bad at all, but it was a very busy routine with six days Football and five days Military Service for two years until age 20, College four years until age 22 plus two more until age 24, with only one full day off in the two years of military service without going on the Football tours in Summer. Saturday after our game I went out with my girl friend and Sunday we went to the first division game and spent the evening at the club with the nice dinner and dance after the big game at River Plate Stadium every second week, or at the visiting team in their stadium and in the club houses any other Sunday. This all changed after military service and I could go on our Soccer tours in the different countries of South America and after the war ended, also in warm European countries, like Spain, Italy, Portugal and France Since my first Olympics in 1936, one of my dreams was to enter the Olympics like my mother's two brothers for Austria. When I graduated from college in 1944, the war was still raging and our only tours were in South and Central America and there were no thoughts about the Olympics, but after the war, in 1946, London was chosen for the 1948 Summer Olympics and St. Moritz for the Winter Olympics. I was 22 and had enough time and energy to train for the 1948 in which I would have liked to participate. I was an Argentine Citizen by finishing my military service and therefore could participate in the Olympics if I could qualify for the trials. When Argentina decided not to send a Football team to the1948 London Olympics, I decided to enter Olympic Trials in the 100 and 200 meter sprints which I ran in 11.0 and 22.4 seconds, or less than the required 11.4 and 22.8 seconds for qualifying, which qualified me with only five other sprinters. Amazingly, I ran the same time in 3,400 foot high La Paz, Bolivia, as I did in sea level Buenos Aires. Bonhof had the best time, Galan, Acosta and myself about the same in 100 m and 200 m with all others slower and so the four of us were chosen to run the 4x100 meter relay as well. I had enough daily practice at Soccer practice and occasionally trained for two more hours on our college track, before going home. I was certain that I was going to the Olympics, but a few weeks before the team was to leave for London, an official letter from the Argentine Olympic Committee arrived, asking me to come for an urgent meeting. When I got there, I was told that by IOC standards, I was not a full fledged amateur player by playing for a professional club, even when playing in second division, especially when second division players, replacing players of first division for the yearly three months summer tour, are being considered professional players and/or when a club pays any expenses for a player, he is considered a professional by IOC standards. By being on contract with River Plate and having big advantages all paid by the club, plus monthly expense money, the Argentine Olympic Committee could not officially let me participate in the Olympics because of the strict IOC rules for which they would have problems. I offered to change my name for the second time, but they would not go for that either. Besides, name changing is not as easy as in this country and is an expensive court procedure I had to go through, in order to play with a Spanish name instead of my too tough to pronounce Czech name, which River Plate paid for. On top of that, my Father had changed our difficult name to Nash, when he arrived in New York from Bolivia, which I finally also adopted when I came to the United States in 1955. I protested, because as far as I was concerned, I was not a professional player with a high paid salary like the regular first division players and requested a meeting with COA Officials, because in the division I was playing, I only got certain benefits like my apartment, car and a limit for monthly expenses, but not any big money players of first division received, which was certified by the AAF and by River Plate, since I was considered an amateur. Although Officials of the Olympic Committee supposedly tried to straighten things out with the IOC since I qualified, I could not officially run in London and if I qualified for another Olympics, it would be the same. But I was considered an Olympian for Argentina and an alternate sprinter and could keep my Uniform and Accreditation and march into the Stadium with the Argentine Delegation and eat and sleep in the Olympic Village. Since I knew from the beginning that we did not have the slightest chance to win anyway against the Sprinters of the USA, Brazil or Jamaica, I was glad that my performance was at least recognized and since I was looking forward to go and had three weeks leave from my club, I had a wonderful time. The team went by Navy flag ship, which takes more than a week each way, I paid my way by air to London, since I did not have enough time and had to be back right after the Olympics. I had a great time as part of the team, met many people and had to keep to the same strict regulations, rules and training schedules of the Committee, since our Chef de Mission told me that there was still a slight chance that I may be able to run, but not officially. We were by far not as good as the USA and several other countries and I was not concerned either way. I was able to get a London Torch and many other things, which I kept in Buenos Aires with my 1936 Berlin Torch and left with my friend in Buenos Aires including my Football trophies, awards and news articles, because of the bad political situation that year, when I was innocently mixed into politics, when our team was invited at the Casa Rosada, the National Palace in 1950 and President Juan and Evita Peron offered us membership in his party, a big honor I was very proud of for a while, although it did not last, nor help any of us in the long run and I never found my friend nor my things again. SAINT MORITZ, V. OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES, 30 January to 8 February,1948, the first winter games I attended after Garmisch - Partenkirchen, where I had such a great time. The summer of 1948 in Buenos Aires from December to March, was as usual hot and muggy and we were on our tour in the warm European countries. We were playing in Trieste and Fiume on Sundays against good Italian and Jugoslavian teams and I asked for permission to go to the Olympics during the days we were not playing, to visit the Olympics in St. Moritz. I still played Sunday and was allowed to leave from Monday until Saturday and therefore did not see the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, but I saw great Skiing, Ice Hockey, Speed and Figure Skating and a lot more and I was glad not to have missed the St. Moritz Olympics, even so I was not there for some events, I was there for half of the Olympics. It was well worth going and see gorgeous St. Moritz and meet a lot of people. I flew back to Italy on Saturday, in time for Sunday's match against their best local team. I liked St. Moritz so much, that my wife and I drove to St. Moritz a few years ago, to stay for a week and also visited Chamonix, Albertville, Grenoble, Cortina D'Ampezzo, where on the way, we stopped nearby at the interesting War Cemetery below the Dolomites, where Italian Alpini and Austrian Army forces were fighting during World War I for four years and deal with the harsh winter elements, Ice and rock avalanches and now were laying there together in this beautiful, peaceful part of the Dolomites that used to be Austria and became Italy after the war and where my father commanded an armored Alpine Ski division for four years in the Dolomites near the Bolzano area, which used to be Austria and luckily survived the second world war and it is peaceful as before all the wars now. LONDON, XIV. OLYMPIC GAMES, 29 July to14 August,1948. Considering that only three years had passed after the second World War, everything was well planned and organized and I had a great time, as I already described above. Upon the sounds of the British National Anthem, His Royal Majesty King George VIth entered Wembley Stadium, greeted by BOC and IOC members and reviewed the entrance of the Athletes, with Greece coming in first and Great Britain last. IOC President Sigfrid Edstrom and the Organizing Committee President Lord Burleigh, the1928 Olympic Hurdles Gold Medalist, welcomed the participants and officials and invited his Majesty King George VI. to open the games, which he did with the following words: " I declare the games of London to celebrate the XIVth Olympiad of the modern era, as open ", followed by the hoisting of the Olympic Flag and the arrival of the Olympic Flame carried by Olympian John Mark, who circled the Track while the Royal Opera Chorus and Orchestra performed the Olympic Hymn and than lighting the Olympic Cauldron in front of the Honor Tribune among a grandiose ovation. The Olympic Oath was taken by Donald Finlay with the following words:" We swear that we will take part in the Olympic Games, in loyal competition, respecting the regulations, which govern them and the desire of participating in them, in true spirit of sportsmanship for the honor of our country and for the Glory of Sport." And after thousands of pigeons and balloons were released, the London Opening Ceremony came to an end and the 1948 Olympic Games could begin. As I thought, Argentina did not do well in Sprints and Running events, only Delfo Cabrera, an Argentine fireman I knew from Buenos Aires, won the Marathon in a most dramatic finish and two boxers won Gold Medals, Pascual Perez for light weight and Rafael Iglesias in the heavy weight class. I saw both fight at Luna Park in Buenos Aires, before and after the Olympics. The Marathon was one of the most disputed races I have ever seen, as Delfo Cabrera passed the Belgian Etienne Gailly in the Stadium and circled the track in great Style, second was Thomas Richards G.B. with 16 seconds and third Gailly 42 seconds behind. There were three Argentine Runners in the Marathon and all three were among the first ten, never again accomplished since 1948. Great Athletes besides Delfo Cabrera, were Bob Mathias USA,17 years old, winning the Decathlon, Fanny Blankers-Koen, NETH, winning four Gold medals a fete never equaled before. Ilona Elek, Fencing for HUN, and Jan Brzek CZEC won Gold Medals in1936 and1948 in Canoeing. Dezso Gyarmati, HUN a national hero and best Water Polo player in the world. He won five Olympic medals in five Olympics and wife Olga won also Gold. Harrison Dillard USA, won Gold in the 100 meter dash and Czech Emile Zatopek Gold, 5,000 m, SWE, Gold in Soccer against YUG, IND Gold in Hockey, Karoly Takacs, HUN Gold in Pistol, a national hero, USA, Gold in Men's Long Jump, Pole Vault, Swimming, Basketball. Sailing, FRA and ITA Gold in Cycling, Micheline Ostermayer FRA, won two Gold for Discus and Shot Put. The Closing Ceremonies came to an end with a speech by IOC President Sigfrid Edstrom. And after the large Olympic Flag was retrieved and the Olympic Flame extinguished, the Closing Ceremony was followed by a display of very wonderful fireworks, which brought the London Olympics of 1948 to an end and we left the stadium through the Marathon Gate of Wembley Stadium. I was not able to take time off, to go to the 1952 Olympic Winter Games in Oslo, since winter in Norway is summer in Argentina and we went as usual on a three month tour, playing Football in several European countries, but mostly in Spain. Since I qualified easy for the 1952 Helsinki Games, the Argentine Olympic Committee allowed me the same privileges as in 1948 and like in London, I received my new uniform from the Argentine Olympic Committee and my Participation Medal in Helsinki at the end of the events, but could not run officially according to IOC rules, which by today's Olympic rules I would not have had a problem whatsoever. In any case I had to train with the team, kept myself in great shape and of course I observed all regulations of the Argentine Olympic Committee and orders of our Chef de Mission. In Helsinki I was told again that I may be able to run the three events, because the president of COA had spoken with Sigfrid Edstrom and I actually trained hard for it, but my time as well as that of our other sprinters were far to slow against the runners of some of the other South and Central American countries, as well as from Europe and the USA, that I asked not to run and take chances being disqualified and never be able to run again in any official Athletic Competition and get fined and embarrassed on top of it. HELSINKI, FINLAND, XV. OLYMPIC GAMES, 19 July to 3 August1952. Not the pompous festivities as for 1936 Berlin, nor was any other Olympics since, but real nice Olympic Games, thanks to all the Finnish people involved, going out to show their best side. It was raining when the Officials arrived at the Olympic Stadium while the Finnish National Anthem was being performed by the Helsinki National Symphony Orchestra. The Athletes entered the newly built Olympic Stadium during heavy rain, with Greece, as usual, first. IOC President Sigfrid Edstrom welcomed all the participants and invited the President of Finland Julio Paasikivi to open the Olympic Games. While the big Olympic Flag was hoisted and the Finnish opera chorus sang the Olympic Hymn, while one of the greatest runners of all times, Paavo Nurmi entered the Stadium with the Flame and circled the track in his great running style and lit the cauldron situated in front of the Honor Tribune, under an enormous ovation. After that, young Football players carried the Flame to the top of the Stadium Tower where another great runner, Hannes Kolehmainen took the flaming Torch and lit the Official Olympic Cauldron on top of the Stadium tower under a non ending ovation. Heikki Savolinen, one of the Finnish Olympians, took the Olympic Oath on behalf of all Athletes and after thousands of pigeons were released the Opening Ceremonies ended when the Athletes left the stadium together in great harmony and camaraderie. Paavo Nurmi, Hannes Kolehmainen and Emil Zatopek remain the greatest Long Distance runners that the world has ever seen. Emil Zatopek, by winning three Gold medals for the 5,000, the 10,000 meter and the Marathon in the same Olympics and is the only Athlete ever to do so in Olympic History, an accomplishment, unsurpassed to this day. His wife Dana Zatopkova also won Gold in the Javelin throw. What a treat to have seen Emil Zatopek run and meet him and his wife personally. The Soviet Union sent a team for the first time in many years. Their women Gymnasts were so superior, that they won every team event in Gymnastics for the next forty years. Israel also sent a team for the first time. Bob Mathias of the USA won his second Gold medal. As the youngest Athlete to win Gold at seventeen in London and only Athlete to win two successive Gold medals in the Decathlon, a great accomplishment to be twice in a row the best overall Athlete in the world. The USA swept the 1952 Olympics, winning Gold Medals for 100, 200, 800, 4x100, Discus, Javelin, Long Jump, Harrison Dillard won Gold in the 110 m hurdles, Charles Moore Gold in 400 m hurdles, Bob Richards Gold in Pole Vault. Without Polo being an Olympic sport anymore, Argentina did not do well and only won Gold medals in Rowing and Boxing. Jamaica won the 400 meter and 4x400 meter races, Hungary won the Gold in Soccer, (called Football all over the world but in the USA) with a great team and one of the world's greatest players, Ferenc Puskas, of same age as me. When he played for Honved in Budapest, we played against each other many years ago. He was one of greatest, only comparable to Maradona, Di Estefano, Pedernera and Pele. Hungary won Gold in Water Polo with the great 5 times medal winner Dezso Gyarmati and his wife Olga also won Gold in Swimming, Laszlo Papp HUN 3rd time Gold in Boxing and Floyd Patterson, USA also Gold in Boxing and Ilona Elek HUN 2xGold, won Silver. And at the Closing Ceremony, the Athletes of all nations came into the Stadium together, mingling, getting acquainted and establishing new friendships during the spectacular fireworks that lasted a long time and with the last flicker of the Olympic Flame, the XVth Olympic Games of Helsinki 1952, were over and as usual, I made many foreign friends and had a wonderful time in Finland. The greatest treat for me of the Helsinki Olympics was seeing the three greatest long distance runners of all times, together at the same games and on top having had the the great honor to have been a participant of the first two Olympics after I was an official guest at the Summer and Winter Olympics of 1936 in Germany when I was ten years old. At the Closing Ceremony, Sigfrid Edstrom, after thanking the Athletes, Officials and Volunteers and wishing them farewell, handed the CIO Presidency over to Avery Brundage, whom I had met at one of the dinners and was able to talk to for a while. A very nice, but stern man, he was a true advocate of the Olympic Movement and a loyal follower of Baron Pierre de Coubertain. He did not believe in the slightest deviation of the strict CIO rules, completely different then today's IOC which is ruled by big money and where professional Athletes are allowed to participate, which is completely against the Olympic Charter and Ideals of Baron Pierre de Coubertain and where everything, other than drugging, is being allowed, which as far as I am concerned is going way overboard either way and is absolutely unfair to all the small countries that are bribed to compete and vote, so that the few giants can beat them at their leisure. Avery Brundage, a highly intelligent man, but not realistic, as most of us that were still brought up with that genuine Olympic Ideal of Coubertain. which does not really exist anymore, with just about everything having turned commercial. I had a feeling that Avery Brundage had a hard time with people, because they wanted to convert the Olympics already when he was still president and use that name for profit, which was totally contrary to his believes of Olympic Ethics and his Idealism, which I share with him 100%, but regrettably and sadly went the other way after President Lord KIllanin was voted out and President Samaranch took over. I think, a happy medium would have been the right solution, which I suggested to President Jack Rogge when he assumed the IOC Presidency, but it was ignored and the IOC is going on as commercial as during President Samaranch's Presidency, starting with making money by renting tables for the annual pin shows to everything else for profit. The Ideal of the Olympics as I have experienced and enjoyed them, when Olympians competed to win for Honor and Glory, without any thoughts of money, do not exist anymore. They were changed and are not the Olympics of Baron Pierre de Coubertain, Avery Brundage, Lord Killanin and all the others before them and will never be the same. They have been commercialized and will be that way from now on, because it is not the same world anymore, in which I grew up, or during the life and time of Avery Brundage, the President of the USOC for twenty five years and the IOC for twenty, a man with the highest ideal I have ever known and visited twice in Garmisch Partenkirchen before his death. E mail checked daily at: enash327@yahoo.com or weekly at: museum@olympicsource.org Telephone: Summer: 541-765-2923 Winter: 702-346 1776 |
