Olympic marks “not absolute”

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32708, 10 September 1971, Page 22

Olympic marks “not absolute”

(New Zealand Press Association) HAMILTON. Track and field marks set by the national athletics selectors for aspiring Munich Olympic Games participants “guides and incentives, not absolute figures.”

The marks which are better than present New: Zealand records in some . cases, are taken from; present world standards, the national selector, Mr C. J. Thompson (Wai* j kato), said yesterday. The standards were released on Tuesday by the management committee of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association. "It should be made clear that reaching the standard does not automatically qualify anyone for selection, while someone not gaining the mark might still be selected,” Mr Thompson said. WORLD COMPETITION Asked whether some of the marks might not be rather steep, Mr Thompson said standards had to be considered in the light of world competition. “fa the hammer, for instance, we’ve put the mark at 220 ft, but twelfth best this year is 228 ft, and eighth at the last Olympics was 224 ft” The New Zealand record, held by W. Nicholl, is 196 ft sin. “Some figures are very tough, but that only shows how low the standard is in New Zealand in those events,” he said. fa the marathon, one of this country’s best events, a stiff 2hr 14min 44sec is the standard. “When fellows overseas have run the event in 2hr 9min,” said Mr Thompson,

“we must be realistic. We’ve sent people away before who’ve done no good. Marathon runners must be capable of fast times to succeed now. “The standards are only a guide, but once set they’re taken as gospel, giving athletes an incentive to work hard. “It is better to set a high standard now and give athletes something to strive for than to be unrealistic and then have standard-beaters rejected by the Olympic selection committee later.”