Reserve decision "foolish”

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33439, 22 January 1974, Page 28

Reserve decision "foolish”

More criticism of the New Zealand Commonwealth Games selectors was made yesterday by the manager of the cycling team (Mr I). Smith).

Mr Smith, one of the earliest critics of the dropping of specialist sports nominations, was moved to his latest criticism by the crash on Sunday evening of Russell Nant, one of the New Zealand pursuit team. Apart from feeling "a bit sore,” Nant was quite comfortable, and trained with the pursuit team yesterday. “But the crash underlined the foolishness in omitting our spare team pursuiter, Robert Oliver,” said Mr Smith.

“Ours is a highly competitive sport, a highly dangerous sport,” said Mr Smith. “It is also a sport in which it is very, very important to get pre-Games racing with the attendant risks. We accept these, and in fact we have now had two relatively minor crashes. “What is hard to accept, though, is that the possibility of a crash, which we were guarding against by naming Oliver, has actually taken place, and our reserve is not on hand in case he is needed.”

The only aspect of Nant’s crash — which happened at the end of the 8000 metres at Denton Park — that brought some comfort to the pursuit team coach (Mr W. Thorpe) was that it happened on a new, smooth sur“Just imagine if that had been at English Park,” said Mr Thorpe. “Russell skidded 20 or 30 feet and he would have been out of the Games if he had landed on that more abrasive surface.” Mr Smith was unhappy about the technical meeting’s decision to make the 10 miles a single race, with 34 starters.

The 8000 metres on Sunday evening had a field of only 24, yet the cyclists were occupying as much as 150 metres of the track. “Thank goodness we have drawn one, two and three for that event,” said Mr Smith. Technical meeting decisions have also been made on the tandem and team pursuits, which have the fewest entries of the cycling programme. Each of the five pursuit teams will ride a time trial in the first round, a procedure normally followed only

on tracks of less than 333 metres.

In the tandem, although the full draw has not yet been made, England will have the bye. and the other four teams will be matched in two races. Each team, under the repecharge system, is assured of at least two rides.

In the sprints, the firstround draw will be made on national seedings, and thereafter on times in the preceding round.