1912 Olympic Games Official Report Part 2

nearest to the wall close to the entrance. Each piste and the fittingsbelonging to it was of a special colour (blue, yellow, red and white)so that the competitors might more easily find their places.The interior of the hall was decorated with a bust of H. M. theKing, surrounded by the standard of Sweden and those of the othercompeting nations interwoven with green garlands, the whole offeringa very inviting appearance with these simple, yet richly coloured decorations.Nowadays the wish is generally expressed to have the épée- andsabre competitions as much as possible in the open air, but whenarranging such competitions, it is necessary to be certain of having aroof above one’s head to be able to feel sure that the events in questioncan be completed.The épée competition of the Modern Pentathlon, however, realizedthe first of these wishes, as it was fought out on the new out-of-doorstennis courts, which, without any very special preparations, satisfied allthe demands made on first class fencing-grounds. The only thingwanted to make this competition a success was fine weather, and thiswe enjoyed, with brilliant sunshine and southern warmth.As far as regards the arrangements necessary for the personal convenienceof the competitors, such as dressing-rooms, lavatories etc.those already existing in the tennis pavilion proved quite sufficientand satisfactory.After the list of entries of the competitors who were going to takepart in the various competitions was definitely fixed, each man’s placein the eliminating rounds of the first series was determined by thedrawing of lots immediately before the arrival of the competitors.This was done in accordance with the regulations.The drawing for this first round is given at the beginning of thereport of every special competition. It can be seen there, too, howthe winners in this round (italicized) take part in the rounds of thenext series (shown by a Roman figure after the name). The groupsin which the competitors were, placed were decided by the drawing oflots at the Secretariat, care being taken to have as few competitorsas possible belonging to the same nation opposed to each other, andalso that those competitors who had already met should, in the nextround, compete with new men.Immediately after the finish of a series, those competitors that wereto take part in a second were given a card, issued by the Secretariat,by the aid of which and of the time-table already mentioned, thecompetitor at once knew the hour when he should next present himself.The colour of the card agreed with that of the piste where theevent was to take place.These arrangements, which were quite new of their kind, provedto be very practical ones, much questioning being thus made quiteunnecessary, for each competitor had a printed notice of the hourswhen his presence was required, and he could spend his leisuretime without any fear of coming too late to a competition.462