NOT FOOD, ALTITUDE, WATER... Boredom Now No. 1 Olympic Problem

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31680, 16 May 1968, Page 15

NOT FOOD, ALTITUDE, WATER... Boredom Now No. 1 Olympic Problem

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON. Boredom will be the main problem for New Zealand athletes at the Mexico City Olympic Games later this year, the chairman of the Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association, Mr G. L. S. Cross, said yesterday.

Mr Cross recently visited Mexico and made a thorough inspection of the game’s sites and facilities, and had discussions on how problems likely to affect New Zealand could be overcome.

He said that it appeared the problem of athletes becoming bored had displaced food, water and altitude as the major problem.

To adjust themselves to the high altitude, New Zealand athletes will spend a month in Mexico before the games start

"Our athletes will have to have a strict sense of selfdiscipline,” Mr Cross said. “They will have to know there are certain foods they can’t touch, such as Mexican foods, and they can drink only what is approved.

“As well, there are certain types of ice cream and confectionery which must be barred.” The Mexicans had also gone to considerable trouble to purify and pasteurise the water, and the special purifier sent from New Zealand had arrived. It had been installed and soon laboratory tests were to be made on water from it Mr Cross said it might be really difficult keeping New Zealand athletes at a key pitch for a month. “We will have to arrange carefully planned recreational activity away from the games,” he added. Mr Cross said the New Zealanders would be served

meals at the Olympic Village in a cafeteria which: would be open to English-speaking athletes. The meals would be normal New Zealand food and they would be cooked in the same manner. He had inspected kitchens and their standard of hygiene was the highest he had ever seen. In the village, the New Zealand team would occupy one and a half storeys of a block, which it would share with the Irish, Australian and Canadian teams. Commenting on the general administration of the games preparation, Mr Cross said it had been improved greatly by the new president, Mr Ramirez Vasquez, a renowned architect.

“They’re really into top gear now,” he said. “Provided they can get everything ready this could be the most magnificent games of all time. “As & layman, I would say they would have great difficulty getting everything ready. At the moment the swimming arena is just steel girders and a long way from completion. But Mr Vasquez is an experienced architect and he is confident “I did notice that the Mexicans have a capacity for working fast At present they are working two nine-hour shifts each day and, if necessary, they will increase this to three eight-hour shifts.”