Bedford for N.Z.

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34031, 20 December 1975, Page 46

Bedford for N.Z.

(NZ.PA. Staff Crspdtf LONDON

David Bedford, the world 10,000 m record-holder, has confirmed that he will spend three months in New Zealand preparing for the Olympic Games in Montreal. Bedford will leave London on December 28 and hopes to get a temporary teaching post in Auckland to pay his way as he tries to train himself back to peak fitness. His main aim is some solid training to test the thigh injury that has plagued him for the last three years. He had an operation on the thigh two months ago and as a result is now running again without the pain that has dogged his recent career. “The doctors say the operation seems to have cleared up his problem,’’ Bedford's father said. “He is jogging daily once again, and it seems okay." The British Amateur Athletics Board is giving Bedford £lOO towards his fare. “He thinks a few months training in the sunshine will help him get back to full fitness,” said the board secretary (Mr Arthur Gold). “We are’ happy to help with his fare.” Bedford hopes to train regularly with New Zealand friends ' and fellow-runners, Dick Quax, John Walker, and Rod Dixon. He has not raced at a major meeting since the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch in early 1974.

Boxing.—Ken Norton will meet Predo Lovell (Argentina) in a 12round heavy-weight bout in Las Vegas on January 10 which promoters say will decide the next challenger to Muhammad All. But there is also speculation that All’s next opponent will be the winner of the George ForemanRon Lyle bout in Las Vegas on January 24.