1912 Olympic Games Official Report Part 2

THE PRINCIPLES FOR THE JUDGING.Another important question to which the rules and regulations endeavouredto give more definite form, was that of the method ofjudging to be employed by the juries of the competitions. It is, unfortunately,necessary to employ juries; it must be acknowledged thattheir task is a most difficult and unthankful one, in fencing especially,for, in the competitions in question, their duty is not restricted to themere stating of a definite fact as, for example, who has passed thewinning post first or who has jumped farthest, but it is necessaryto decide at one and the same moment, whether a hit has been madeand, if so, also to analyze the movement by which this hit has beenbrought about, and thereby to come to a fair decision. This is reallya very difficult task, especially in the case of rapid fencers, the swiftnessof whose movements is, so to say, an endeavour to shuffle thecards. Nothing, either, is more calculated to detract from the pleasurethe correct fencer has in this sport, and from the sympathy feltby the spectators, than disputes between the members of the jury, andinconsistencies in their decisions. Considering that an improvementin these respects could be gained by a clearer definition, and a betterdivision, of the tasks of the jurymen, the Committee consulted allavailable treatises on the matter and finally felt itself most attractedby the rules proposed by Comte du Cugnon d’Alincourt, of the Sociétéde l’Escrime à l’épée de Paris. The merits of this paper are itsclear division of the tasks of the members of the jury, and the logicalarrangement in the method of stating the observations they have made,whereby the phrase d’armes is decided in the quickest and most reliableway. Wherever this system has been used in all its strictness it hasjustified all expectations ; that this could not always be carried outwas quite naturally the result of the difficulty there was in obtainingfully competent judges, and of the difficulty of bringing about uniformityin all these international juries, whose members speak differentlanguages and have different customs.The rules and regulations finally adopted proved to satisfy allreasonable demands for clearness and conciseness; the small numberof protests, and the facility with which the matters in dispute weredecided, also speak in favour of their practical nature.The question of the jury is the most delicate matter regardingfencing competitions, for, on the simple, clear decisions that are given,there rests not only the maintenance of the art of fencing, but also theretention of the sympathetic interest of the spectators. The competitionought to consist of the spirited bouts of the fencers, and not ofthe lengthy deliberations of the jurymen. The attention of futureOlympic Committees should be carefully directed to this end.THE TECHNICAL ARRANGEMENTS.It is of the greatest importance to find the right place, and to makethe proper arrangements, for competitions on an extensive scale, ifthe events in question are to be carried out in a natural manner, andso that everyone can feel himself quite at home during the course460