Brisbane Briefs

Press, 11 October 1982, Page 23

Brisbane Briefs

Durable 400 m runner

After the last champion had run his race and the last cheer had faded, a whitehaired Englishman padded out a circuit of the Q.E. II track on Saturday. Roy Moor could claim to be the most durable 400 metres runner in the history of Commonwealth and Olympic Games. He was the only journalist in Brisbane who covered Hitler’s 1930 Olympic Games in Berlin. He has not missed a single Olympic or Com-

monwealth Games since. After each of them he has observed a simple ritual. When the stands are empty and the track cleared, he jogs once around the track, just for memories' sake. Now working as a freelance for a number of British publications. Moor will go to Games as long as there is breath in his body. His next goal is a quiet 400 metres around the Los Angeles track after the 1984 Olympics. — NZPA

Festivities interrupted

The skies were weeping for the end of the Commonwealth Games in the capital of Australia's sunshine state yesterday. Competitors celebrating the end of the big sporting festival on the Brisbane warm-up track on Saturday night were rudely interrupted by an electrical storm breaking

over their heads. The athletes proved they still had some dash left by sprinting feverishly for cover, followed by musicians from three bands and the entertainer. Rolf Harris. There was no chance of resuming the party later. Rain was still falling heavily in Brisbane yesterday afternoon.

Missing Moller medal

New Zealand's 1500 m bronze medal winner. Lorraine Moller, lost her medal while taking part in the closing ceremony of the Games on Saturday. A search of the grounds

and calls for people to watch out for the medal were made. Fortunately, a short time later the medal was handed in and returned to a very relieved Miss Moller.

Brisbane’s Olympic bid

The Brisbane City Council has announced that it will prepare a bid to stage the 1992 Olympic Games in the Queensland capital. On the eve of the closure of the twelfth Commonwealth Games. Brisbane's Lord Mayor, Aiderman Roy Harvey, said that the council had already

asked for official documents on the Olympics. "The overwhelming success of the Games has shown that Brisbane City has the enthusiasm, organisational expertise and engineering ability to build world-class venues and host major international events," the mayor said.—NZPA.

U.K. cyclists for tours

Two outstanding English road cyclists will probably compete in the Rothmans our of Southland and the Dulux six-day race, from Auckland to Wellington, this month and next. One is Malcolm Elliott, the gold medallist in the Commonwealth Games road race in Brisbane on Saturday. He

indicated afterwards that he might join Mark Bell, last year's British champion, on both tours. Bell rode in events on the New Zealand circuit last year, achieving astonishing success in sprints and stage finishes, but Elliott appeals as the more complete cyclist.

Athletes kept awake

The New Zealand Commonwealth Games marathoners, Don Greig and Kevin Ryan, had only three hours sleep the night before their race because of noise from inconsiderate athletes nearby. The New Zealanders ‘were living four to a room in the cramped Games village on the Griffith University campus. Greig and Ryan said they

went to bed at 9 p.m. last Thursday, to be up at 4.30 a.m. But a radio blaring in the room next door, and a party in the Scottish physiotherapists' room nearby meant they didn't sleep until 1.30 a.m. Ryan finished fifth, and Greig pulled out after 37km of the gruelling 42.2 km journey, but both said they would have done better with more sleep.—NZPA.