Games Cyclists Hurt When Tandem Crashes

Press, Issue 32345, 10 July 1970, Page 14

Games Cyclists Hurt When Tandem Crashes

(N.Z.P.A. Staff Correspondent) EDINBURGH. Two of the New Zealand Commonwealth Games cyclists crashed last night on Edinburgh’s “wall of death”—the 45-degree banked international cycling track at Meadowbank.

M. F. Vertogen and B. W. Preston skidded for 30 yards after they punctured on the steep banking coming out of the back straight on their tandem.

They were given first aid by St John Ambulance men and later treated by the New Zealand team doctor ( Dr Mayne Smeeton). They suffered severe abrasions to their right legs, hips and arms, and Preston

scraped his nose. But although their arms and legs were covered in heavy plasters, both cyclists expect to be training again today. Vertogen said that he and Beeston were sprinting in the course of a training stint on the track. “The back tyre punctured and the back of the tandem went up while we went down We skidded along the track almost into the front straight.” Equipment Arrives The front of the New Zealand team’s headquarters looked like a second-hand sports shop yesterday afternoon when team members began unpacking the last of their equipment to arrive here. Racing cycles, fencing masks, foils, sabres, vaulting poles and dress uniform white hats reached the village four days late. Gleeful athletes, notably the fencers and cyclists, eagerly set about undoing the giant package in which the gear was contained Within minutes, the cycling coach <Mr W. D. Dalton) , had a miniature cycle assem- : bly shop operating on the forecourt of the team’s headquarters. The fencing team was ‘[already stripped for training [when the packages arrived land within an hour was on its way to Meadowbank [Stadium for a two-hour practice session. The cyclists were not far behind, the trackmen getting down to some hard riding round the 45-degree sloping Meadowbank track and roadmen circling through nearby Holyrood Park. Squash Barred One member of the fencing team, M. L. Henderson, of Auckland, was absent from the practice session. He strained his back while playing squash in a bid to retain peak fitness. The fencing sectional manager (Mr K. Mann) said squash and tramping over the crags of Holyrood Park had been a substitute for training with the foils. However, the team doctor, Dr Mayne Smeeton, said later he had placed a ban on any further squash playing to eliminate the possibility of further injuries. Henderson was having heat treatment and taking special tablets. He was expected to be fit again in about two days. Eating Too Much The appeal of the highgrade food served at the I village is causing problems [for New Zealand officials. [Some sectional managers have apparently detected signs that team members are putting on extra weight. Mr L. Crabb, manager of the swimming team, said: “We are watching their weight carefully. At the moment the extra poundage isn’t a worry because it will! come off when we get down' to serious training, but we are [ having to keep an eye on the i situation.” Mr Dalton said he was well aware of the appeal the village food had for his team. “I’ve told them to keep on a salad diet for lunch and to have only one big hot meal a day. They can have their steak for tea.” The New Zealand bowling four were “given a bath”—a beating—by a local club team in a practice match, the sectional manager (Mr A. McDonald) said. “The team found the green pretty heavy and couldn’t match the local fellows in their own conditions," he said. “The greens are very heavy her" and it’s a bit like playing skittles. There is very little draw." Demand for Tickets Receipts from ticket sales for the Games have so far totalled £200.000. All tickets have been sold for the swimming on July 23 and 24 and there has been a sell-out for the badminton finals on July 21. Athletics has produced steady sales, the biggest demand being for July 22 and 23. Seats were still available for the bowls, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting and fencing. Australian wine brought to Scotland for a recption to promote Melbourne’s bid for the 1974 Games was being held by the Customs Department at Prestwick airport.

Customs officials were demanding that the Australian team, which brought the wine with them, pay £7O in duty, the assistant team manager (Mr E. Hayman) said. Several dozen bottles of wine were to be served to more than 150 guests invited to the Edinburgh reception at the Australian centre in Edinburgh next Wednesday night. The guest list includes voting delegates at the Commonwealth Games Federation meeting on July 19 which will decide on the 1970 venue. The reception will be a counter to a similar gathering and luncheon with an allNew Zealand menu being held held next week by the group promoting Christchurch as the Games site. First Reprimand The Australian manager (Mr A. Tunstall) issued his first reprimand within two hours of his team's arrival at the village. He ticked off several competitors wearing track suits bearing the names of a sporting outfitter, against his instructions. “You must wear your green Australian track suit and that’s an order,” Mr Tunstall told one team member clad in blue and white. “We want our team to advertise Australia, not some commercial enterprise."