Standard Of N.Z. Athletics Has Been Underestimated

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28158, 22 December 1956, Page 5

Standard Of N.Z. Athletics Has Been Underestimated

VEW Zealand athletes had reached a higher standar of performance in comparison with overseas athletes than had been generally appreciated. This impression has been formed by A. W. Richards, the New Zealand marathon runner, after observing athletes from other countries in training and competition during the Olympics. Most New Zealand athletes had an inferiority complex about Olympic competition, said Richards, and this attitude was also evident in the approach that some of the New Zealand officials had towards athletes from other countries. “Basically our athletes are as good as those from overseas.’’ said Richards, “and our training methods, particularly those of our middle-fiistance and distance runners, are on sound lines and compare very favourably with those practised overseas. The Secret “The secret of their success.” said Richards, “was not that individually they were superior to us, but that they have had better opportunities and facilities. Overseas athletes had the benefit of cinder tracks and cinder or concrete throwing circles on which they could develop technique throughout the winter on firm surfaces instead of on soggy grounds as New Zealanders had to do. Gymnasiums are usually located closely to tracks in America and this meant that athletes are able to more easily carry out a full programme of development.” American sprinters did more winter training than was the case in New Zealand, said Richards, and starts, weight-lifting and jogging seemed to form the main background during that period. American sprinters reached top class considerably younger than was the case in New Zealand and that was because their colleges and high schools provided facilities that did not exist in New Zealand. New Zealand sprinters had to prepare under adverse conditions without coaching and with the lack of facilities in New Zealand schools and universities, it was not surprising that promising athletes sometimes turned to other sports or dropped out all together. “Unless we get these facilities,” Richards said, “we are going to have a continual drain on our top class athletes going overseas to gain extra experience.” Field events competitors from other

countries trained considerably harder than their New Zealand counterparts, said Richards. In Melbourne the hammer-throwers for example trained hard for about three hours at each work-out.

The Future

“I had considerably underestimated the value of international competition until by experience at the Games," said Richards. “It was a great boost to me mentally and I would have greater confidence in future in international competition. I know that I can foot it with them now. It is a matter of striking the right fitness on the day. I found that I had as much basic speed as several of those in the field who have recorded close to 2hr 20min or better for the marathon. A lot of those who had recorded considerably faster times than my best <2hr 31min 28sec) finished behind me at Melbourne.” Times mean nothing in the marathon—it is the course and the day that count.” Every one in the marathon was troubled by the heat at Melbourne, said Richards. All the others ran good times on the outward journey, but times flagged on the return journey, which was generally downhill, and where runners had expected to run faster. Most of the competitors attributed this to having had the sun on the backs of their necks on the outward journey. A surprising feature was that when runners came to the shaded tree-lined three-mile stretch of St. Kilda road they slumped even more.