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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 12, Issue 6 (September 1, 1937.)

Negroes in Sport

Negroes in Sport.

Alastair Cameron, the young Otago athlete, holds the “best New Zealand” performance at discus throwing with an effort of 139 ft. 3½ in., a performance good enough to win a British Empire title were Cameron eligible to represent New Zealand, but it pales into significance alongside the throw made by an eighteen-year-old American negro athlete, Archie Harris. Competing at Passaic a few weeks ago, Harris threw the discus to 175 ft. 8 in., to beat the world record of 174 ft. 2½ in. held by Willi Shroder, of Germany. Because Harris was not registered with the New Jersey Association his throw will not receive official recognition.

Until recent years negro supremacy in track and field sport had been limited to sprinting and long jump, but at the Olympic Games at Berlin last year the coloured athletes triumphed in the sprints, long jump, quarter-mile, half-mile and high jump, and now a negro athlete has broken the world record in a new branch of the sport.

The world record for 100, 200, and 800 metres is held by coloured athletes who also hold world marks in the high jump (6ft. 10 in.) and long jump. And a negro is heavyweight boxing champion of the world!