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2018-05-21T19:59:45Z

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''The Olympic Games'' is a letter written by [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] first published in [[The Times]] on 30 july 1912.

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== Editions ==

* in ''[[The Times]]'' (30 july 1912 [UK]) as ''The Olympic Games: Sir A. Conan Doyle's Suggestions''
* in ''[[Daily Mail]]'' (31 july 1912 [UK]) as ''A Plan of Victory: Sir A. Conan Doyle's Letter''
* in ''[[Land and Water]]'' (august 1912 [UK])

== The Olympic Games (30 july 1912) ==

'''Sir A. Conan Doyle's Suggestions.'''

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir, — All who have our reputation as athletes at heart owe a debt
of gratitude to your Correspondent at the Stockholm Games for
his very clear and outspoken comments upon the situation. We
can now see the causes of past failure. The question is how far they
can be removed in the future, and what steps should be taken to
that end.

Every one is agreed as to our possessing the material. There
remain only two factors — the money and the management.

To make worthy preparation we must have liberal funds. If the
public do not provide them, then they can blame no one but
themselves for our failures. I think that where the Olympic
Council is most open to criticism is that they have not kept
sufficiently in touch with the Press and the public, by explaining
what had to be done and what was needed to do it. I am sure that
with fuller knowledge the public would have responded more
fully. Can we not find among our rich men some one who will
make the Games his hobby and be the financial father of the team?
How could a man spend his money better? But failing that we
must all make an effort — and the sooner the better, before we have
lost the stimulus which our defeat provides — to secure ample funds
for doing everything which money can do to put the flag at the top
in Berlin in 1916. I hope that a strong and influential appeal for
funds will be made in the immediate future, with some reassuring
statement as to how they will be expended. If the public does not
respond it will prove that there is no national interest in the Games
and that our case is serious. But I am convinced that this is not so,
and that the money will be forthcoming.

Having secured a good war-chest, what are the other measures
which should be adopted?

1. The first is the formation of a British Empire Team, which
you have already discussed, and which seems to have met with
general acceptance.

2. Annual, or even bi-annual, games should be held on the
Olympic model each year from now to 1916. Every Olympic
Stadium event should be contested in these with handsome prizes.
They should be held alternately in the provinces and in London.
In this way we would thoroughly understand what material was
available, and we would accustom our athletes to metre distances,
and to the unusual competitions, such as the discus and javelin. I
may say here that there is a small society existing, of which I have
the honour to be president, called the Field Events Association
(Hon. Secretary, F.A.M. Webster, 161A, Strand, W.C.), which
endeavours to promote these abnormal events, and which has
already obtained very gratifying results.

3. We must bring our full strength into the field. It should be
recognised that just as all counties give up their best men for an
England match, so Bisley, Wimbledon, or Henley must not detain
our Olympic champions. The absence of our tennis players and of
our yachts this year was a deplorable thing. There should be such
a public spirit over the Games that it would become impossible for
any one to throw obstacles in the way of our complete
representation. As a mark of such public interest the team should
have a public send-off and a public reception upon its return.

4. The team should be brought together into special training
quarters for as long a period as possible before the Games, with the
best advice always available to help them. At the Games
themselves every effort should be made to keep them under the
most healthy and comfortable conditions.

5. In every branch of sport some one must he responsible and
on the spot to see that our men are fulfilling every condition. Then
such fiascos as the two young officers disqualified in the riding
would be avoided.

There is, as I understand, to be an important meeting of those
interested in the question during the week, and it is to he earnestly
hoped that some way will be found by which the central
controlling body (who have, I believe, in some things done
excellent work with very insufficient means) will be brought into
closer touch with public opinion.

Yours faithfully,

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE.<br />
Windlesham, Crowborough, Sussex, July 29.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="1000px">
File:The-Times-1912-07-30-the-olympic-games.jpg|[[The Times]] (30 july 1912)
File:daily-mail-1912-07-31-p5-a-plan-of-victory.jpg|[[Daily Mail]] (31 july 1912)
</gallery>

== See also ==

* [[Our Olympic Failure]] (22 july 1912, [[Evening Standard]])
* [[Britain and the Olympic Games (2 august 1912)|Britain and the Olympic Games]] (2 august 1912, [[The Times]])
* [[Britain and the Olympic Games (8 august 1912)|Britain and the Olympic Games]] (8 august 1912, [[The Times]])
* [[The Olympic Games (22 march 1913)|The Olympic Games]] (22 march 1913, [[The Saturday Review]])
* [[Olympic Committee]] (25 march 1913, [[Sporting Life]])
* [[Olympic Games Lethargy]] (24 may 1913, [[Daily Express]])
* [[The Olympic Games (27 august 1913)|The Olympic Games]] (27 august 1913, [[The Times]])
* [[The Olympic Games Fund (13 september 1913)|The Olympic Games Fund]] (13 september 1913, [[The Times]])
* [[The Olympic Games Fund (11 october 1913)|The Olympic Games Fund]] (11 october 1913, [[The Times]])
* [[Some Views on the Olympic Talent Fund]] (Christmas 1913, [[Stock Exchange Christmas Annual]])
* Preface of [[The Evolution of the Olympic Games 1829 B.C-1914 A.D.]], by F.A.M. Webster (may 1914, [[Heath, Cranton & Ouseley Ltd.]])

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* [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:Complete Works|Back to Complete Works]]
* [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Back to Conan Doyle]]

The Olympic Games (30 july 1912) - Revision history

TCDE-Team at 19:59, 21 May 2018