Aspects of the Games

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33433, 15 January 1974, Page 2

Aspects of the Games

Blistering speed As Scottish, English and Northern Irish athletes took advantage of Sunday’s summer weather, observers in the village—anyone who wasn’t colour blind—were predicting a heavy run on sunburn cream. Straight out of the Northern Hemisphere’s winter, the British athletes were not slow to strip off, spread out their beach towels, and soak up the sun R ait for lifters Members of the public will have to wait to see the form of competitors in three sports until the Commonwealth Games rivalry begins in earnest. The sports concerned are boxing, weightlifting and wrestling, in which the entrants will make their preparations away from the Games venues. No official roster system has been drawn up for training purposes Bruised ego One of a group of New Zealand journalists who were invited to dine in the Games dining room to sample the fare, thought he had the makings of a story when he went to collect some fresh fruit to finish off his lunch. Most of what he chose was bruised and not the best sort of advertisement for New Zealand. The story fell to pieces and the journalist was somewhat embarrassed when one of the attendants pointed out that he had helped himself from the discard bin. The fresh fruit was in abundant supply at another table. Gross growing A talking point at the Games village, for the horticulturally inclined, is the progress being made by the “instant grass” layers. Around the students’ union buliding, which is being used as the focal point for the village, large patches of grass have been appearing daily as groundsmen lay out fresh sections of turf in the rush to complete landscaping.

\othing to trade The perennial prime activ-j ity at every Commonwealth i and Olympic Games — swapping team badges — is already under way in Ham village. At least it is underway for those who have something to swap. New Zealand athletes moving into their rooms were given an opportunity to barter by a group of Northern Irish, but. the deal fell through when the Kiwis had to confess they had nothing, as yet, to I trade with. A lot at steak Steak is the most popular dish on the menu at the Games dining room. The dining rooms had 1081 guests for lunch yesterday, and 800 of them chose steak as their main course. The Organising Committee’s chairman (Mr R. S. Scott) said so far 75 per cent of all the meals served had been built around steaks. The call for Asian dishes so far has been very small, he said. Ignorance is bliss? Even the arrival of more than half of the competitors has apparently not been enough to get the Commonwealth Games message through to the whole of Christchurch’s population. A conversation between two women at a bus stop in Cathedral Square went something like this:— First women: Isn’t it nice to see so many of the young people about the town these days? Second woman: Surely you don’t mean the unemployed? First woman: No, the ones in Christchurch for the Games. Second woman: What Games? Finally uncovered One of the big “Black Power’’ stories of the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh concerned the raising of a black “flag” to the top of the village flagpole. Investigation revealed that the “flag” was in fact a pair of men’s black underpants. The flag - raisers were identified when the manager of the Welsh team (Mr R. Jones) admitted that it had been a couple of athletes in his care.

Standing room only While there has been praise from athletes for their accommodation at the Games village, there are already murmurings in some quarters about the size of the offices allotted to team managements. The smaller teams will have ample room, but i the larger teams will be | short of room. Even if team managers are limited to I headquarters staff, and to the team managers in the i nine sports, it would be a jcase of standing room only.

VF orbing lunch Athletes and officials on diets should steer clear of the dining rooms in the Games village. There is food in abundance, and although those who are entitled to pass through the doors are required to surrender a meal ticket, there is nothing to stop them going back for seconds — or thirds. Instead of making a return trip, some athletes make sure they get plenty for a start, and the sight of chicken pieces sitting on the top of two steaks is not uncommon.