MAYOR PRESENTS FLAG, MEDALLION

170 Olympic Athletes and Officials Depart for Rome After Reception here

BY JOSEPH M. SHEEHAN

New York City paid official tribute to the United States Olympic team yesterday.

With about fifty athletes participating, there was a public send-off ceremony at City Hall at noon. In the evening, the team was further honored by the city at an informal reception at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

Immediately after the latter function, special busses transports about 170 Olympic athletes and officials to New York International Airport in Idlewild, Queens. The group took off from there for Rome in two chartered planes.

Last Flight Thursday

With these departures, the sixty-five-member men's track and field squad and the twelve man basketball squad are the only units of the American team, which totals 305 athletes, remaining in this country. They will leave together on Thursday.

"All of America will be watching you with hope and pride," Mayor Wagner told the Olympians at the City Hall ceremony.

"From the most publicized event to the least understood, we will be wishing you the greatest of success. No matter how many gold medals you win and points you score, we now you will represent us with distinction and honor."

Mayor Wagner presented a city flag to Kenneth L. (Tug) Wilson of Chicago, the president of the United Stats Olympic Committee. He requested that it be delivered to Urbano Cioccietti, the Mayor of Rome, "as a symbol of the friendship of the people of New York City for the people of Rome."

City Medallion Awarded

At the evening reception, Mayor Wagner, who was accompanied by Mrs. Wagner, awarded the New York City medallion to the team. Wilson accepted it on behalf of the athletes, whom he described as "dedicated young men and women who have worked hard and will serve us well as ambassadors of good will."

Gen. Omar N. Bradley saluted the Olympians at City Hall as "the cream of the crop of our hundreds of thousands of fine amateur athletes."

Dr. Ruggero Farace di Villaforesta, the consul general of Italy in New York said, "I hail the representatives of your country and extend my country's warmest welcome."

Col. Harry D. Henshel, the chairman of the New York City Olympic Committee, and Commissioner Richard C. Patterson of the Department of Commerce led arrangements for the ceremony, also joined in the accolade.

Mrs. Janice Lee-Romary of Tarzana, Calif., a fencer who will be competing in the Games for the fourth time, and Rafer Johnson of Kingsburg, Calif., the world record-holder in the decathlon, were the spokesmen for the team.

Gold Medal the Goal

"It is the goal of each of us to win a gold medal," said Johnson, the former president of the student body of the University of California at Los Angeles. "Naturally, that's not possible for all. But we hope to do the best job possible of representing our country."

Wearing their natty dress uniforms of dark blue, the Olympic athletes assembled in the City Hall rotunda at 11:45 A. M. Promptly at noon, they marched down the steps of the hall between massed colors presented by guard units from the Marine Corps, Navy and Fire Department and took seats on either side of the rostrum for the ceremonies.

In honor of the occasion, the City Hall flagstaffs were dressed with the five-ringed Olympic flag and the flat of Italy. Formations representing all branches of the Armed Forces were deployed about City Hall Plaza. The Sanitation Department Band, directed by John Celebre, provided music.

Center Is Closed

After the Naval Academy's eight-oared crew checked in from Princeton, N. J., the Olympic processing center at the Vanderbilt Hotel closed down. Under the efficient direction of Charley Kuntz, nearly 400 members of the official Olympic party were cleared for departure inside of four days, with hardly a hitch.

Lou Lindsey, the Navy coach, said that the Annapolis eight had "improved tremendously" during its training period on Lake Carnegie. "I'm very pleased with the progress we have made. Our timing and blade work are much sharper than they were," he added.

The oarsmen left last night, along with the boxers, some gymnasts, fencers, shooters, women's track and field athletes, modern pentathlon squad and staff personnel, headed by Wilson and Arthur G. Lentz.

Phil Baldwin of Muskegon Heights, Mich., the boxing squad's 148-pound entry, had to be left at home for treatment of a liver ailment. Barring a quick recovery, he will not be able to compete in Rome. Nor is it likely that a substitute entry will be accepted, the deadline for nominations having passed.

If there's a tailor in town who can produce a size 54-long light-weight blue jacket in a jiffy, Rink Babka would appreciate hearing from him at the Vanderbilt Hotel. The No. 1 American discus thrower, who tied the world record last Friday, trudged New York's steaming streets for hours in a vain search for Olympic garb that met his unusual specifications. Complicating the situation is the fact the yard-wide, 265-pound Babka tapers down to a thirty-seven-inch waist.

Coach Larry Snyder has scheduled 10 A. M. work-outs for the track squad at Van Cortlandt Park Stadium today, tomorrow and Thursday. The weight men will drill at Columbia's Baker Field.

The Olympic Committee gave special consideration to the team's two married couples. Harold Connolly, the hammer thrower, was permitted to leave early, to be with his wife, Olga, of the women's track and field squad. Able Grossfeld of the men's gymnastics squad was allowed to defer his departure by twenty-four hours to accompany his wife, Muriel, also a gymnast.

The New York Times, August 16, 1960