Severe check costs Walker 1500m victory

Press, 11 October 1982, Page 22

Severe check costs Walker 1500m victory

From

RODDEW

| tn Brisbane

A severe check less than 100 m from the finish cost the great New Zealand middledistance champion, John Walker, any chance of winning the gold medal in the feature 1500 m final on the last day of the track and field competition in the twelfth Commonwealth Games on Saturday. The title went to a 21-year-old Englishman, Steve Cram, who had the better of what turned out to be a remarkably slow, tactical struggle. He reached the finish comfortably clear in 3min 42.375, the slowest time since 1966.

Walker, who had great hopes of beating the young Englishman, attempted to sprint past the experienced Kenyan, Mike Boit, on the inside in the finishing straight. Boit closed the gap. Walker collided with him and stumbled badly before recovering well and running around the outside to secure the silver medal. His time was, for him, an incredibly slow 3min 43.115.

Boit, who seemed upset by Walker’s attempt to take him on the inside, won the bronze medal in 3min 43.335.

"Boit always swings wide when he enters the finishing straight,” said Walker afterwards. “He started to move out and I tried to go through the gap, but then he moved back on the pole line and it was all over. If I had managed to get through I might have been able to get Cram.” Walker said he felt very frustrated' that he had not done himself justice: “When you finish a race and then feel that you could do it all over again there is something wrong,” he said. The wind was strong throughout and. because of this nobody wanted to set the pace. This resulted in a great deal of jostling, and luck played a big part in the outcome. Walker got himself caught in the middle of the field at the start of the final lap and had to sprint hard through jostling rivals to get in a challenging position off the final turn. Then, having just overcome this problem, he made his disastrous deci-

sion to try and go through on the inside of Boit. But there really wasn’t a lot of choice — Cram had the clear, outside run, so the path to the front was blocked there too.

Cram also had a bad check at the start of the last lap:' “I nearly went flat on my face,” he said. But he had the better of the final 400 m and coming off the final turn he was ideally placed for his sprint finish. Walker was the only one in the field who could possibly have matched him over the final 100 m. and he was caught up in the traffic. “Cram ran a smart tactical race, and he got the breaks.” said Walker. "There is a lot of luck involved in a race like that." Later, he said he would “like to have another go at Cram” and predicted a different result. There are two international races in Australia in the next few days, one in Melbourne on Wednesday and another in Sydney on Saturday. Walker, however, has not yet received an invitation to race: “It looks as if I am not going to get another chance,” he said. “I know I could have won that race today, even at the slow pace. I was in a frustrating position. I just couldn’t get a run and that was all there was to it. It is the man first across the finish who wins and I was second.” ■

Cram, the winner of the European championship a few weeks ago and widely regarded as a successor to the two British middle-dis-tance world record-holders, Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe, ran the race in fear of a hamstring failing. He overstretched while warming up the previous day and only five hours on the physiotherapist's table enabled him to race up to his highest level.

“I was very worried last night. I warmed up today very gradually and didn't do anything fast,” he said.

Cram said he was very surpised that the race was run so slowly: “We were all waiting for someone to do something and nobodv did. Because it was so slow, there was a lot of pushing and shoving and heels getting clicked."

Although the field did not break up until the last lap, the race was really a threehorse one betwen Cram, Boit and Walker. These three went to the front at the start and they were joined by the two Australians, Michael Hillardt and Patrick Scammell. On the second lap Walker was properly boxed in and almost literally had to fight his way out. At the bell. Boit led from Cram, Hillardt and Scammell, with Walker badly positioned behind them. The tall New Zealander improved coming off the turn and was third into the final bend. Off the turn, Cram was wide and beautifully positioned and Boit had the pole line with Walker right behind. Cram accelerated and Boit had no answer. Walker, expecting Boit to drift wide, dived for the pole line only to find the gap closed. That was the end of the race. Cram raced on for an easy win and Walker lost several metres as he pulled back from Boit and then sprinted around the outside for second place. Graham Williamson, of Scotland, was fourth and the Australian champion. Hillardt, a disappointing fifth in 3min 44.035. The other two New Zealand runners in the final, Michael Gilchrist and Tony Rogers, ran well but were never a threat to the top contenders. Gilchrist ran seventh in 3min 44.50 s and Rogers was eighth in 3min 45.115. The medals were presented by the Queen, and even she thought the race had been a rough one. After congratulating Walker on his second place she said: “That was a rough race, wasn't it.” For Walker it certainly was, in more ways than one.