First track gold to Italian

Press, 26 July 1980, Page 20

First track gold to Italian

N Z P A-A A P Moscow ■! Maurisio Damilano, of iltaly, won the first athletics ! gold medal of the Moscow ,Games on Thursday when he ■won the 20km walk in sensational circumstances. j Damilano’s appearance in' the Lenin Stadium after the gruelling walk in 30 degree .heat caused an uproar. I A few kilometres from ■home, the defending champion, Daniel Bautista, of ; Mexico, had held a narrow . lead from Anatoly Solomin, , of the Soviet Union, with i Damilano in third place. /However, 20 minutes after i the race finished, there was - still no announcement at

’ithe main stadium of I ‘what had happened to the; .two former leaders. It was later learned that, first Bautista, and then' ! Solomin, had been dis-, ’.qualified for “lifting" (not: (keeping the feet in constant ' touch with the ground) in ■ the later stages of the walk: , Damilano’s 23-year-qfd twin brother, Giorgio, fin-' ' ished well back in the field. ■' Pyotr Pochinchuk. of the Soviet Union, won the silver medal, and Roland Nieser, of East Germany, the bronze. 1 i The 80,000 crowd gave a . hero’s welcome to a little ■ man from Laos, who fini ished almost an hour behind : Damilano.

I Thipsamay Chanthaphone.;: 'celebrating his nineteenth’; 'birthday, found the humid ! heat too much for him. < : The leading walkers had ' long since gone to the dress- ( •ing rooms and undergone . dope tests when Chantha- ‘ phone neared the stadium. ( His performance moved the . ■lines of troops guarding the . lanewavs around the sta-y diuni to the first show of , emotion many had seen ' since the Olympics had began. i As the Laotian hobbled 1 into the stadium many of , the troops clapped their , hands discretely, and smiled _ their encouragement. Com- • petitors in field events i

(stopped and applauded too, ‘•as Chanthaphone walked hi s 'lap inside the arena. i At the top of the straight, he turned towards ~thg • crowd, waved his hands in ithe air, and was greeted by a mighty cheer. Officials then pointed him towards the finishing line, which he finally crossed after 2 hours 20 minutes 22 seconds. Damilano’s time was 1 hour 23 minutes 35.5 seconds. After crossing the line. Chantaphone appeared to Want to walk a “lap of honour.” but an official steered him off the track towards the check-in area.