 |
Search the site:
 |
|
[from the Appletree Press title John McNally - Boxing's Forgotten Hero published by Appletree Press]
PLANES, BOATS AND TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILESWhat counts in sport is not the victory,The Games of the XV Olympiad, better known as the Helsinki Olympics, were due to commence on 19 July 1952. Finland’s capital had originally been selected to host the 1940 Games, however, the outbreak of the Second World War caused their cancellation. Subsequently, the city warded off stiff competition in 1947 to sway the vote of the International Olympic Committee to host the 1952 Games. In doing so, Helsinki with a population of just over 350,000, became the smallest city ever to host a summer Olympics. Given the fact that the city of Helsinki had almost completed its planning for 1940 Games, the preparations for the 1952 Games were relatively straight-forward. As a consequence, the event was organised to the highest standards, with many observers suggesting that the Games be hosted permanently in Scandinavia. The Finns had completed an original athletes’ village for the 1940 Games, however this had been given over for social housing, which necessitated the building of a new facility. Kottby, a town about 10 miles outside Helsinki, was chosen for this purpose and construction of a village for 5,000 athletes commenced. A total of 69 nations sent teams in the Games, an increase of ten on London’s total four years previously. Among the countries making their Olympic debuts were the Bahamas, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel and Vietnam. Significantly, after a gap of almost forty years, Russia, in the guise of the Soviet Union, returned to the competition. It soon became apparent that further accommodation would be required, and another village was constructed in Otnäs, which became the home of the Russians – who provided the largest team of 290 athletes – and the other Eastern Bloc athletes. With the Cold War in its infancy, the Russians upped the ante considerably by insisting on having a separate village for their athletes, surrounded by guards and protected by barbed wire. The Helsinki Games were in essence hijacked by the ideological battles of East and West as Russia, together with Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Poland opted to live separately from the Western nations. Their camp was off limits to the other athletes, while pictures of Joseph Stalin adorned the walls in an attempt to inspire the teams. For the scientists and rulers of the Socialist countries, each victory would be triumph for Socialism and the Soviet way of life. Twelve blocks were constructed in Kottby to house the 61 nations allocated there. Interestingly the Portuguese team – for whatever reason – opted to stay on their ship moored in Helsinki harbour, while the rest of the teams enjoyed the excellent facilities, which included three canteens and, the height of luxury in a shoe-shining service. The Irish competitors were housed in Block 2 along with teams from New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Holland, Iran and host nation Finland. The biggest shock to the competitors in the village was the proliferation of luxurious hot steam baths – known, of course, as saunas – which after a spot of acclimatisation became a valuable method of controlling weight, especially for the boxers. Indeed the South African contingent became so fond of the Finnish bathing luxury that they conducted their press conferences from the facility, no doubt to the discomfort of the assembled journalists. One of the stranger quirks of the Olympic village was that every window was fitted with a blackout blind, since the Finnish high summer meant that total darkness never fell at night, and it was thought that this might disturb the athletes’ precious sleep. After their short train ride from Helsinki, the Irish team arrived, were assigned their quarters, and soon began to savour the build up to the Games. The biggest initial problem they would face was a fundamental one, namely keeping their weight down. Three separate marquees were erected to cater for the differing tastes of the competitors, with the Irish boxers taking full advantage of the hospitality on offer. “Finland was so clean and everything was brand new, so it was like luxury for us. The people were friendly and the women were so beautiful that it was just unbelievable. I recall that everything was so relaxed and we were mingling with some of the great stars of sport. Boxing was not even entering into my mind. Coming from post-war Belfast, we thought that the food was a real eye-opener. We went into the tent for a bite to eat on the first day and saw all the biggest steaks, salmon, mountains of potatoes and vegetables, rice, pastas and salads. Best of all it was totally free so, in truth, letting the boxers in among this food was like giving a machine gun to a monkey as it was going to be chaotic.”
Sure enough, the feasting came to the attention of the team manager, and one-by-one the boxers were summoned by Christy Murphy who told the well-fed men, in no uncertain terms, to ‘lay off the grub!’ The boxers went back to watching their weight and knuckled down to the business ahead as training began. On the second day in the village, the Irish boxing team went down to one of the athletes’ training tracks to limber up with a bit of light jogging. Manager Christy Murphy left the boxers as he went to tidy up some administration, and the team commenced a gentle workout in the Helsinki sun. After about five laps, each of the members decided to go back to the village. John McNally was determined to undertake some further training, but this time his antics would see him get into Christy Murphy’s bad books for the second day running.
From the Appletree Press title: John McNally - Boxing's Forgotten Hero by Barry Flynn. |
[ Back to Top ]
All Material © 1999-2009 Irelandseye.com and contributors
