O’Rourke gives N.Z. a golden finish

Press, 11 October 1982, Page 22

O’Rourke gives N.Z. a golden finish

A mighty throw of 89.48 m in the men's javelin by an inspired Mike O'Rourke gave New Zealand a golden finish to the twelfth Commonwealth Games in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee sports centre on Saturday.

O’Rourke, a red hot favourite for the gold medal after his Commonwealth record effort of 89.58 m earlier this year, looked vulnerable early in the contest: “It takes me a few throws to get in the groove,” he said.

He started with a modest 81.26 m and improved to 81.90 m on his second attempt. Surprisingly this was good enough to lead the competition. Some highly regarded throwers such as Phil Olsen, of Canada, the winner of the gold medal at the Edmonton Games, and David Ottley, of England, appeared to be having great difficulty adjusting to the strong head wind.

The competition came alight in the third round when Laslo Babits, of Canada, who is not known for big throws, recorded 84.88 m to take the lead. This was the only throw in which Babits managed to exceed 80m, and

some might even say it was a fluke, but for a time it looked as if he might be a shock winner.

O’Rourke seemed inspired by this challenge and in his next throw he closed with an excellent 84.66 m. Before it was measured, he thought it was good enough to win.

When he found it was 22cm short of Babit’s distance he redoubled his concentration. In the fifth round, everything went perfectly. The javelin sailed out beyond the 89m mark and O'Rourke punched the air in jubiliation. He knew even then that nobody else was going to challenge him for the gold medal. He had a final throw of 84.64 m, but it was only a token effort. Babits took the silver medal with his single big distance and Zakayo Malekwa, of Tanzania, won the bronze with 80.22 m, achieved in the third round. Olsen, whose recent 86m throw suggested he might be a big threat to O'Rourke, never really got to grips with the contest and had to settle for a best distance of 77.96 m and fourth place.

The second New Zealand thrower in the field, Dave

Hookway, finished eighth over all with 69.72 m, well below his best. Later O'Rourke admitted that he had been worried when Babits had sent out his 84.88 m throw. “Before that. I thought that 81m might be good enough to win,” he said.

Even then, O'Rourke, a 26-year-old carpenter from Auckland, refused to allow himself to get upset: “I had done all the work. I had the background. I knew I could do it,” he said.

The strong head wind suited O’Rourke’s style perfectly. “It was just right,” he said.

Now he is turning to thoughts of breaking the 90m barrier. His personal best is 89.58 m.

“Throwing 90m is a thought, but it is not an obsession,” he said. “I have been close to it twice. It is just a matter of letting it come. I will get it eventually. If I didn’t think that I would give up,” he said. O'Rourke's performance easily broke the Commonwealth Games record of 84.79 m, set by an Englishman, Charles Clover, in the Christchurch Games eight years ago.