Quax must be asked to stay in N.Z.

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33750, 24 January 1975, Page 6

Quax must be asked to stay in N.Z.

CBy

GORDON PIRIE)

At the end of the day. t we — the spectators — * leave the stadium sati- ( ated. As an athlete, I , have left stadiums in all t kinds of states, from ' joyously elated — about ! twice —through all the J emotional states down to suicidal. : < l< But yesterday, at Queen J Elizabeth II Park, the exit : was accompanied by a solidly] satisfied feeling. We had witnessed records of all kinds from superb athletes, jump-], ing. throwing and running. I; Yet the most satisfying |1 was the finale, where Dickp Quax did it ft) the end —with- ' out any record. Surprisingly |< enough, Dick himself was ; unable to express any real : feeling of satisfaction. i Test of champion 1 1 i Deep disappointment about the Munich Olympics and last : , year’s Games showed!] through; understandably,!, when vou can do it and every i, turn of fate is against you.: It is very exasperating; I: know. The test of a true cham- ; pion is twofold: what do his I fellow-competitors feel about ;

him and how does he respond ( to a challenge? i We, the other runners, I have great admiration and I respect for Dick. He responds to the challenge. There he was yesterday, in a moment of victory, when everything had gone against him for a 1 while. A champion’s lot is a diffi- 1 I cult one. He cannot satisfy ’ i everyone: sometimes he can 1 inot satisfy anyone, even him- 1 I self. I Handy yardstick | Dick Quax has run records, 1 even world records, for New ■ ! Zealand. He says he will !leave New Zealand short-!; |term or even long-term, ji ’Something should be done to!; 'dissuade him from leaving usii at all. I, Quax matured yesterday.!; in his own words: “Winnings ■ is the most important thing, but it is nice to win in a ; fast time—like 13:20 or so I in a 5000 m.” Yesterday, Dick ■ ran more than 2sec faster ;than my old world record, I so times are comparative, i merely a handv yardstick. I Yesterday, we saw the yardstick in use. In the :100m, Steve Riddick, a newcomer to Christchurch (at 9.30 the same morning!), ran a winning race'in 10.41 sec.

Graeme Haskell of Australia and Aleksander Kornelyuk, a Russian, found this too fast for them. Late arrival Riddick did not think his iate arrival did him any harm—his form is not there just now—but he was really electric in his running and gambolling around on the track. He ran, as I said, 10.41 sec: he has run lOsec flat and said he could do it right here if he was in racing form. Haskell and Kornelyuk were speechless. New Zealand athletes had ja great day, but we really jsaw some of the weaknesses !as well. We desperately need more athletes and more ! opportunities to compete with these world-beaters from overseas in events such as the high jump, hurdles and sprints. Today looks a bigger day. The 800 m is on, and this is the big race, with John Walker against the Africans. At the end of the day, we will see most of New Zealand’s women’s cross-country team. With the decathlon events sprinkled through the day, and the men’s 400 m, wa jare in for a second day’4 1 fine sport. I