Len Platt scored his most notable success at the White City Stadium on Saturday last when he was representing Great Britain against the U.S.A. Olympic team.
Len was placed fourth with an excellent leap of 23ft 5½in., this being the third time this season he has been over the 23-ft. mark which definitely establishes his position as Britain's leading long jumper.
The value of Len's performance achieved in such top class company can be seen from the fact that he beat the American, Gourdine, who was Olympic runner-up, into 5th position and was only 5-in. behind the coloured American, Jerome Biffle, who won this event at Helsinki.
It should be mentioned that weather conditions for the whole of this match were very poor.
There is little doubt that if Platt had been jumping more consistently above the 23-ft. he would not only have been selected for Helsinki, but would probably have put up a creditable performance, as only four of the world's best long-jumpers exceeded 23-ft. 6in. in the Olympic finals.
However, Len has now been taken over by Dennis Watts, the A.A.A. area coach, who was himself a 24-ft. long-jumper.
Several club championships have been completed, the best performance being that of Margaret Collings, in the ladies' long jump, who cleared 17-ft. 1½-in. Here again, had Margaret been doing this distance regularly she would have been in the top flight of lady long-jumpers this season. This would seem to be Wallasey's best event this season as John McGill also excelled in the junior long jump with a very good leap of 18-ft. 10½-in.
The ladies' mile was won by Marjorie Lawrence in 6 mins. 35 secs., which is an excellent time for her first attempt at this distance.
The championships continue next Monday with the youths' javelin, junior hop, step and jump, and the senior half-mile, while on Thursday the youths' hop, step and jump, junior discus, and the senior three-miles will be contested. Entries to date have been rather disappointing, and it is earnestly hoped that this will improve for the remaining events to be held.
Ends
Source - Wallasey News - Saturday, 16/08/1952
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