Dixon tired third

Press, 26 May 1978, Page 20

Dixon tired third

NZPA staff correspondent London The New Zealand track star, Rod Dixon, accepted the cost of gearing himself solely for Edmonton when he finished a played-out third over a mile at Crystal Palace yesterday. “It’s a price I’m prepared to pay,” Dixon said after watching the Kenyan, Wilson Waigwa, and an unknown Scotsman, John Robson, pass him in the straight. Dixon’s early-season concentration on conditioning rather than speed and a cold iwind took their toll. I “After the first lap I I thought that was it, I ! couldn’t do it. Then I picked lup a bit until we were in I the straight and I knew I [ had to go, but there was [nothing there,” Dixon said. I Waigwa had trouble, too. He trailed the field for most of the race — even slipping three metres off the back — and only made his effort when Dixon was already in I top gear with 200 m to go. Waigwa’s best time for a mile is 3min 53.8 s but the cold affected him, too, and he was timed in exactly 4min. Robson, the Scottish national champion, was twofifths of a second slower and Dixon finished in 4min 1.45.

In the highlight of the night, the 3000 metres, the Kenyan, Henry Rono, decimated the big field, which included Britain’s current pin-up, Steve Ovett, and the talented American, Marty Liquori. Rono won in 7min 43.8 s from Ovett and Liquori.