Three top women athletes banned

Press, 6 August 1981, Page 32

Three top women athletes banned

PA Wellington The top New Zealand runners, Allison Roe, Lorraine Moller and Anne Audain, may never compete as amateurs again. On Tuesday bight the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association became the second national body affiliated to the International Amateur Athletic Federation (I.AA.F.) to ban the trio. It is inevitable that the I.A.A.F. will consolidate the N.Z.A.A.A.’s ruling with: a world-wide ban.. The trio’s only means of appeal against the bans is throught the I.A.A.F. The . three athletes breached the I.A.A.F. code on

two counts by running in a professional road race in Portland, Oregon, over a month ago. - . They participated in an event not under the jurisdiction of the Athletics Congress (T.A.C.) of the United States of America and, Mrs Audain and Miss Moller openly accepted prize money. Miss Roe and Miss Moller, two of the fastest women marathon runners of all time, finished second and third to Mrs Audain in the. women’s division of the Portland race which is part of the Organisation, of Road Racers of America (Orra) professional championship circuit. The night before the 15km

Cascade Runoff they had signed documents declaring they were competing for money. Mrs Audain and Miss Moller have since admitted competing for professional gam, Mrs Roe placing her prize money in solicitors’ hands.

T.A.C. has banned them for the same reasons.

Close to 5000 people participated in the Portland event and according to T.A.C. are all “contaminated.” Four other New Zealanders, Paul Stumper, Peter Scott, Michael Bonner and Keith Pearce, also competed in the event without intending to accept prize money.

The three women were regarded as definite medal prospects for the first women’s Olympic marathon at Los Angeles in 1984. Mrs Roe had received grants from the New Zealand Sports Foundation in recognition of her prospects. The monthly meeting of the N.Z.A.A.A.’S management and committee decided to hold off officially announcing the ban until the athletes had been informed. Miss Moller and Mrs Audain are at present out of the country. In their ruling the N.Z.A.A.A. warned all New Zealand athletes that they faced the same ban if they competed in Orra-organised

and sponsored races. Later this year Orra will hold further championship races worth considerably more than the Portland event. Mrs Roe said from her home in Auckland yesterday: “I was of the opinion that the N.Z.A.A.A. would do all in its power to support us. "Several American athletes, for instance, haven’t been banned by their association and have been given the right of a trial. “We should be able to have a hearing as well. You can’t just be banned without being allowed to speak for yourself.” • u Mrs Roe reiterated that

she had not accepted money from the Cascade race: “I’ve never had the money and don’t have it now — it’s in the hands of the promoter.

“I’m more than happy to give it to the association if it wants it.”

She maintains that if the trio is banned then the contamination rule should also be applied as rigidly. Mrs Roe said that she had run against several thousand amateur athletes . since the Cascade event, including 100 recently in Queenstown. She suggests that to be fair those people must also be dealt with.