N. Read sets sights on Edinburgh Games

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31862, 14 December 1968, Page 11

N. Read sets sights on Edinburgh Games

'VORMAN READ could very easily have become a hunchback. When he was 15 years old it was discovered that he had a curvature of the spine and for the next five years he was strapped in a spinal brace and given special exercises. Later he was declared unfit for National Service. Besides the spine injury, doctors found him generally weak in health and incapable of marching long distances. Yet this so-called weakling went on to win the 50 kilometres road walk at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. Ten years later he finished third in the Commonwealth 20 miles road walk at Jamaica and now, at the age of 37, he has set his sights on representing New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland in 1970. Throughout his life Read has been faced with a constant struggle for recognition in a facet of athletics which is looked on by many as ridiculous and unnatural. When he emigrated to New Zealand in 1953, he had dreams of representing Brittain at the 1956 Olympics but at this time New Zealand had not even begun to hold championship road walks. It was not until two years later that the first championship events were held In the country. Read won 'the 50 kilometres walk that season in 4hr 36min 40.5 sec —only lOmin outside the Olympic record. However, the British Olympic authorities were not interested in

Read and New Zealand was eventually told that it was welcome to him. New Zealand accepted this offer with indifference and so with the Olympics only’ a few months away, Read spent all his savings on a trip to Melbourne where he could race and train over the Olympic course. There he won the Australian 50 kilometres title in 4hr 30min 16sec—-

■ two minutes outside the Olympic record. At last he was accepted. A fortnight later he was in the New Zealand team. Even then, nobody seriously thought he had a chance of winning. “To be honest, I thought I would get in the first 12. That’s all,” Bead said afterwards. But he took the lead at the 45 kilometre mark and entered the stadium quarter of a mile ahead to claim the gold medal. He was chosen New Zealand “Sportsman of the Year,” and his face appeared on a national postage stamp. Read was again chosen for the Olympics four years later but after spending three days in hospital recovering from a tetanus injection he was unable to produce his best He was a creditable fifth in the 20

kilometres event and had to withdraw from the longer race. Read was finished. Or so many persons, including the national selectors, believed. However, if Read’s ability was in question his resilience could never be. He made a tremendous effort to win a place in the New Zealand team for Tokyo and failed. He completed a 50 kilometres time trial in a time less than the Olympic record but the New Zealand selectors had already named the team and were determined not to change it. Read was obviously good enough to go to Tokyo but he was left at home. Once again Read set his sights ahead, this time on

the Commonwealth Games at Jamaica. When the New Zealand athletics nominations were first announced he was not among them but when’ he won the British 20-milechampionship shortly afterwards his nomination was immediately put forward. He took the bronze medal on this occasion. He was passed over again for the Mexico Olympics and is now keen to win a place in the team for Edinburgh. And if his recent form is any indication it will be hard to leave him out in spite of his advancing years. He has now moved to Whangarei and is proving a considerable boost to walking in the area. Most of his competition is in Auckland where he has proved far too good for most of his opponents.

His immediate target must be to retain his New Zealand 50 kilometres title this season which he has won nine times since 1956, and perhaps win a place in the team to contest the Pacific Games in Tokyo next September.