Steele uncertain Judo men miss

Press, 1 May 1984, Page 36

Steele uncertain Judo men miss

Murray Steele, the only cyclist whose Olympic nomination was declined by the Olympic selectors, said last night he will have to think seriously about whether or not he will continue racing competitively. Steele, who had been nominated for the sprint race, said he will consider whether to have “a year off,” or have a break with the intention of preparing for the 1986 Commonwealth Games. “I’m disappointed, but there’s not much I can do about it,” he said.

Steele added that the selectors had obviously taken his performance at last year’s world championships, in which he failed to gain a placing in the sprint, into account. Failure to gain selection means Steele has little incentive to carry on, and he will be declining an invitation to race at the Oceania Games in Tahiti soon after the Olympics. “That’s just going backwards, and I’d have to pay for it myself anyway,” he said.

Though obviously disappointed about their rejection, both Christchurch judo hopefuls, Graeme Spinks and Michael Smith, remained philosophical. Smith was nominated for the tough under 95kg weight division, and Spinks for the under 78kg class. “If you’re nominated for the Olympics you’re always hopeful,” said Spinks, aged 23, “but that is just the way the cookie crumbles.” Smith, aged 22, consoled himself with the fact that he was still fairly young. “There is another Olympics

which I can look forward to in four years time.” The Olympic selectors commented last evening that the judo nominees had not had any recent international performances on which to be judged. But Spinks, the winner of an Oceania gold medal a year ago, said that there seemed to be a lack of international competition available. Both he and Smith said that lack of finance had precluded them chasing the top level competition in Europe.