Skier Says Charges Ridiculous

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31653, 13 April 1968, Page 15

Skier Says Charges Ridiculous

Charges that the New Zealand ski team in the Winter Olympic Games at Grenoble in February could have done better if its members had not overeaten, were “patently ridiculous,” said Mr A. D. Coberger, vicepresident of the New Zealand Ski Association, in Christchurch yesterday. Mr Coberger, who accompanied the team to Europe and North America, is a former national champion and a member of the New Zealand Ski Council. He was commenting on a remark made by the president of the New Zealand Ski Association (Mr A. J. Cooper, of Auckland) that “sluggishness from rich food probably

caused the New Zealand team to perform poorly” at Grenoble. “Although it is the place of Mr S. H. Blakely, the manager of the team, to make official statements regarding the team, I feel I must comment on the report in ‘The Press’ on April 10,” said Mr Coberger. “To say that ‘the team could have done better if it had not overeaten’ is patently ridiculous, and I can only assume that Mr Cooper, in saying this, was either attempting a joke or was misquoted. “As a matter of fact, I am a pretty good trencherman myself, but I don’t think this interfered with my functions as an official with the team at Grenoble,” he said. “In assessing the results of the New Zealanders at Grenoble, one should consider the number of people they beat and not just the number of people who beat them. “In the downhill, Robert

Palmer (Auckland) finished in forty-second place—lo seconds behind J. C. Killy (France) who won. But he finished 42 out of 86 men who passed through the starting gate and out of more than 100 who entered. “Many of the entries were injured in training, as was Michael Dennis (Canterbury), but Palmer still did better than they did, and he started fifty-fourth in the field.

“Similarly, Anne Reid (Otago) finished twenty-first (and last) in the F.I.S. Combined,” said Mr Coberger. “But she finished 21 out of about 50 girls who were eligible for the combined at the beginning of the games. “I think this is the most realistic way to look at our performances. We were not great, but we were not disappointing.”