Gymnastic trial in May

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32861, 9 March 1972, Page 26

Gymnastic trial in May

A team of Australian gymnasts and two Japanese judges will be in Christchurch on May 6 and 7 for an Olympic trial, in which both New Zealand and Australian competitors will attempt to gain nomination for the Olympic Games.

The International Gymnastic Federation has ruled that two international judges must judge at the trial for the marking to be recognised for Olympic nomination. Neither New Zealand nor Australia has at present any judge of international status.

It was confirmed yesterday that Japan had accepted an invitation to send a men’s judge and a Women’s judge to the trial.

The chairman of the New Zealand Gymnastic Association's technical committee (Mr C. A. R. Buchanan) said last evening that in addition to the Japanese judges for the trial, it was hoped to have two Australian and two New Zealand judges. However, if Australia did not send judges, New Zealanders would be used. The trial will combine Olympic aspirants from New Zealand and Australia—men and women—but the New Zealand hopefuls will first have to compete in separate trials.

The first trial for women will be held this week-end at Dunedin, but injury, illness,

and retirement have reduced the number participating to five. They are Misses L. Blaikie and J. de Beer (Canterbury), Misses J. Robson and D. Foote (Otago), and Miss P. Karn (Auckland). Mrs A. Milbum (nee Reid) (Otago) and Miss F. Dove (Canterbury) are both unavailable because of injury. The New Zealand champion, Miss J. Buchanan (Canterbury), is out because of illness, and Mrs J. Anderson (Hawke’s Bay) announced this week that she has retired from competitive gym-

nasties because of a recurring back injury. These four were all members of the New Zealand team which competed in the world championships in Jugoslavia in 1970. The first trial for men gymnasts will be held in Taranaki later this month but there are only two competitors with a chance of gaining Olympic nomination—R. Wilkins (Waikato) and T. Sale (Auckland). Two other young gymnasts, N. Davies (Auckland) and H. Vanderschantz (Wanganui), have been asked to compete to give added competition. For an Olympic nomination to be accepted, the women have to total _B6 points or better in eight exercises, and the men 102 points or more in 12 exercises.