OLYMPIC LONG JUMP BID

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33974, 15 October 1975, Page 14

OLYMPIC LONG JUMP BID

The former New Zealand pentathlon champion, Susan Burnside (pictured), is certain to be among the more prominent performers in the Canterbury track and field season which officially opens at Queen Elizabeth II Park on Saturday. Although up to national level in a wide range of events. Miss Bumside plans to concentrate on

the long jump this season in an attempt to win a place in the New Zealand team for the Montreal Olympic Games next year. The pentathlon will be temporarily put aside because her weakest event, the shot, limits her immediate scoring potential. Miss Burnside represented New Zealand in both the pentathlon and the

long jump in the last Commonwealth Games. In the New Zealand championships at Dunedin earlier this year, she finished third behind Pam Hendren and Kathy Otto (both Auckland) In the long jump. Her coach, Mr Valdemars Briedis, feels confident that she has the ability to reach Olympic level in this event.

Miss Burnside is also a prominent sprinter and hurdler. She was a member of the Canterbury team which won the New Zealand 4 x 100 metres relay championship last season and she finished fourth in the last national 100 metres final. She was also runner-up in the New Zealand 200 metres hurdles championship last season.