No Stop to Olympic Preparations

Tickets should be purchased in due time

The main entrance of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.

- The Organizing Committee will naturally follow the situation, but at the same time we continue with the preparations as before. For the moment, no reasons of such a gravity have been presented which automatically would interrupt the present, well progressing preparations. There still is a possibility that the international situation could ease up. The state authorities and the city board of directors will give orders to stop the preparations if needed.

- Does Finland have an opportunity to host the 1944 Games if a war prevents holding of the 1940 Games in Helsinki?

- No, even if London would give up its turn, says bank president Rangell. The Olympic Games rules say that if a country is unable to host the Games at a given year, it cannot act as a host for the next games. If this were the case, Finland could host the Games in 1948 at the earliest. - And what comes to the tickets, those who have booked them in advance, are asked to purchase them in due time. Otherwise they might lose their tickets.

The General Secretary of the Games, Lieutenant Colonel V. A. M. Karikoski told that the present situation has some effect on the arrangements only in few cases. Then, after a careful deliberation, the continuation or discontinuation of a particular undertaking is decided.

The Organizing Committee had informed that it will discuss measures arising from the present situation in its meeting yesterday at 2 o'clock p.m. The meeting was, however, postponed to next Monday at 9 o'clock a.m.

The Olympic Commissar of the city of Helsinki, the city real estate director Erik von Frenckell says as his opinion that at least all construction work on firm buildings and installations, made by the city for the games, should be, in any case, finished. Decisions about this will be made in the beginning of next week.

The Olympic Games of 1940 and 1944 were later cancelled. The next games were held in London in 1948 and in Helsinki in 1952.

The Helsinki Olympic Stadium, by architects Yrjö Lindegren and Toivo Jäntti, was built in 1934-40 and 1947-52. The statue of Paavo Nurmi stands near to the entrance. A copy of it is in the park of the Olympic museum at Lausanne, Switzerland.

Translation by Pauli Kruhse.

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