‘Terribly unfair,’ says Walker
NZPA staff correspondent Montreal New Zealand’s star runner. John Walker, is bitterly disappointed about the African exodus from the Games. “We have to sit at the table with these guys, travel with them, and race against them,” he said. “How do you think I feel?” Walker spent the evening before the opening day with Mike Boit. of Kenya, a rival and a personal friend. “We had no indication Kenya was pulling out,” Walker said. “We parted on friendly terms when we
got back to the village, and I said: ‘See you tomorrow.’ Now he is on his way back. “It’s the athletes I feel sorry for,” Walker said. “They sweat and train for years and years only to have their chance of competing in the Olympics taken away by governments.” Walker is also good friends and toured Europe last year with the Ugandan, John Akii-Bua, another who will be on his way home instead of defending his 1972 400 m hurdles title. “Its terribly hard and unfair on these guys,” Walker said.
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Press, 19 July 1976, Page 6
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176‘Terribly unfair,’ says Walker Press, 19 July 1976, Page 6
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