Aust dominance in field events — 2 gold, 3 silver

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33446, 30 January 1974, Page 10

Aust dominance in field events — 2 gold, 3 silver

Only a very slim margin prevented Australian athletes from taking all of the major honours from the three field event finals yesterday.

Gordon Windeyer and Lawrie Peckham, in the men’s high jump, and Petra Rivers and Jennifer Symon, in the women’s javelin, took the golds and silvers for those events, but Christopher Commons could not quite complete the golden clean-sweep in the long lump, in which he finished second.

The top-ranking Commonwealth jumper last year. Commons led until near the half-way stage, when Alan Lerwill, of England, leapt 7.94 m (26ft o|in). Commons’s first attempt of 7.92 m (25ft Ilf in), was to remain his best and Lerwill, also, was unable to improve. The two competitors remained locked in rivalry for the gold over the finaj three rounds, with only a fractional difference in their counting performances. Similarly, the third plac-

ing was stable throughout. Joshuah Owuso (Ghana) began with 7.75 m (25ft sin) and claimed the bronze with it.

Windeyer and Peckham shook off the three Canadian high jumpers ranked above them in the Commonwealth last vear, Claude Ferragne, John Beers and John Hawkins, before settling down to their more domestic dispute for the gold and silver medals. It was Ferragne—rather surprisingly, because Beers and Hawkins had more impressive heights to their credit—who most threatened Australia’s dominance in post-World War II Games of this event. But 2.12 m (6ft 11 Jin) was the best that Ferragne could manage.

For a time it seemed that a count-back between the two Australians and Ferragne would be required to decide the placings. Both Windeyer and Peckham failed twice at 2.14 m (7ft OJin), but succeeded on their final attempt. Windeyer and then Peckham had the distinction of being the first jumpers to

leap more than 7ft in this country, and they also equalled Peckham’s Games record, established at Edinburgh. The New Zealand open mark of 2.10 m (6ft lOjin), created by Peckham 10 days ago, was fast receding into the record archives.

Windeyer clinched victory when he jumped 2.16 m (7ft lin) at his second attempt. Peckham made a brave bid to keep in contention for his third consecutive Commonwealth title, only to dislodge the bar. He had to wait until the running of the women’s 800 metres final before regaining concentration for his last attempt, but was not equal to the difficult task. The duel that was raging between Windeyer and Peckham at one end of the stadium had a parallel in the tussle between the Australian women’s javelin competitors, Rivers and Symon, at the other.

In that contest, however, the challenger, Symon, could not depose the champion, Rivers. Symon led during the first round, and Sharon Corbett (England) had a short spell of ascendancy before Rivers’s exceptional

timing and strength sent hef clear.

Rivers gained control with her second throw, increased her lead three rounds later and finally celebrated a certain retention of her title by getting the javelin out to 55.48 m (182 ft Olin) with her last throw. This was quite decisively further than Sally Mene’s national open record and 3.48 m better than Rivers required to win at Edinburgh.

The silver medal was claimed by Symon when she reached 52.14 m (171 ft OJin), with Corbett having to be content with the bronze and a distance of 50.26 m (164 ft lOjin). Sandra McGookin, the New Zealand champion, was a medal contender for a time, her best effort of 47.84 m (156 ft 11 Jin) temporarily getting her into third position. But she could not improve on this over the final stages and slipped back to sixth.

Finishing eleventh of the 12 finalists, Mrs Mene did not approach her past 'achievements. Her longest | throw was an undistinguished 40 44m (132 ft |Bin).