Aches all vanish as Games athletes now get into action

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33442, 25 January 1974, Page 12

Aches all vanish as Games athletes now get into action

The loot; wait is now almost over. The tensions that have been building up to a climax over the last few days of life al the Games village will now start to subside as the athletes in all sports get into action.

It is just like taking an f important school examination: you believe you have done the right amount of work, but you tend to try to cram a little extra into the last few days to give you the edge over your rivals. leally. this is a period, when you should be easing down physically, but mentally building yourself for, what for some people is a one- or two-year preparation, | It is surprising now, before a big event, because of the i tension of seeing your main l rivals in training and at j leisure for an extended, period, you can suddenly feel; small aches and pains and; old injuries, which tend to worry you for a while. But come the heats or I qualifying rounds of yourl nvent all the troubles disap- | pear as if bv magic, as the; adrenalin starts to flow through your body. It is sometimes very difficult to calculate training at the village because of other distractions. This is why; some teams prefer to arrive; at a later date and keep their] athletes as long as possible' in their familiar surround-] Ings. The most difficult part is for teams to come to the Games completely out of season and, like the United Kingdom and Canadian teams, from severely cold conditions. Others have coped Usually, this is the position of the New Zealanders and Australians yet they seem nearly always to cope with the situation well. I The people mainly affected! ait those in the sprints,! hurdles and 800 metres. We are very fortunate in Eng-’ land that we now have good! tartan indoor facilities at! Crystal Palace, and so] athletes from the south have been able to train right: though in all conditions. Unfortunately, in other: parts of the United Kingdom the athletes have often had io train in rain, ice and snow —sometimes breaking the ice on the track. That is why I was very surprised to see that a lot of the fancied athletes did not take part in the pre-Games meetings. I think this was a mistake.

las there is no substitute in training for actual competition, to add the final touch that can make all the difference. Now to take a look at the events which will be contested on the opening day of track and field. The outstanding one is the 10,000 metres. Here we have David Bedford (England), the world record-holder in the event I with 27min 30.8 sec. which .has put him way out ahead as favourite by about 200 metres. I David, whom I admire tremendously, has at last, after his failures at the European [championships in Helsinki in 1971 and the Olympic Games at Munich in 1972, prepared himself 100 per cent correctly for a major event.

I think he was very wise; ■ to come to New Zealand, i early and have a valuable race here over 5000 metres.!' He was just beaten by' : Dick Quart, but his time was • in world class and assured ’ him that his preparations; ■ I were perfect and that he! .'could disappear into the ■ background and psyche himI'seif up for a race. I think he will now win.] i It will be the making of him' lias a world-class winning ath-l ) lete, instead of just a good-] i time triallist. ■; Bedford’s main opposition] ■ will come from the reigning’ i Commonwealth 5000 metres] i champion, lan Stewart (Scot-; > land), who had that fantastic! I race in Edinburgh and beat ! Kip Keino (Kenya) and lan I jMcCafferty (Scotland) in one] of the finest finishes I have’ lever seen. I know that Stewart has set his sights mainly on this ; race because of the fallability of Bedford in the past. Bedford's other main rival will be David Black, of Eng-; land, at 21 one of the finest] | young athletes in the world. | He has a great reason for; wanting success—at the time of the Munich Olympics be! was sixth ranked in the world for 5000 metres but only fourth in Britain, so he did not make the team. ’ The Kenyans, Richard| ‘ Juma and Paul Mose, will jcome into contention but, in ’ my estimation, only for the j minor placings. ' Richard Tayler looks the Ibest New Zealand athlete, 'and with the crowd and clijmatic conditions on his side, , ’he might come through for ’ the bronze medal. ’> The women’s pentathlon r ]will, I think, be a fitting climax to a brilliant career! j for Northern Ireland’s “gol-i den girl,” Mary Peters, surely; ’’one of the nicest people to _ win an Olympic title. n | She will be ahead in this ‘.’event, but I do not think she’ . will beat her points total of * [4BOl, which was a world' i_! record at Munich. „ Main contenders Her main opposition will a be from Diane Jones (Cansiada), who was tenth in the e Olympics, and Debbie van >. Kiekebelt, also of Canada, and Erica bjixon (Australia).

The 17-year-old Sue Mapstone (England) and Janet Honour (England) are also in the running. The hammer competition brings together the threetimes Commonwealth champion, Howard Payne (England). still in excellent shape at 42, the Commonwealth record-holder, Barry Williams (England), and the man who won the pre-Games event, 21-year-old lan Chipchase (England) .

Peter Farmer (Australia) [and Murray Cheator (New ’Zealand) will be waiting for .one of the top three to have 'an off-day. I fancy the hammer medal ’winners to be Williams, Chipj chase and Payne, in that 'order.