Steele back in cycling

Press, 17 May 1984, Page 36

Steele back in cycling

Murray Steele, who last Thursday announced his “retirement” from competitive cycling in protest at his omission from the New Zealand track team to go to the Los Angeles Olympics, will be back on the road on Saturday in the Amanda Wilks trophy, the first of the season’s open road races.

Steele’s apparent change of mind has been prompted by a feeling that he still has a chance of being named in the track team, although the rowing association has already had a request for further nominations turned down by the New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association.

Any decision to reopen nominations would have to come from the 16 sports representatives who make up the N.Z.0.C.G.A., which was split eight-all on Tuesday evening on whether to accept further nominations from the rowing body. Mr Roy Dutton’s casting vote, as chairman, resulted in the decision being made to leave the nominations as they stand. Mr Dutton is also chairman of Olympic selectors.

Mr Dutton said last night that the remarks he made after the rowing association’s unsuccessful bid applied to all the sports. “It’d be premature to take action until we (the New Zealand Olympic and

Commonwealth Games Association) know for sure that Russia wouldn’t be going.” The final date for nations to advise the International Olympic Committee whether they will attend the Los Angeles games is June 2.

Mr Dutton said that if his association advised some athletes now that they could go to Los Angeles, only for some or all of the Eastern bloc nations to change their minds before the June date, it would appear as though the New Zealand association was treating them poorly.

Mr Dutton added that if further nominations were called after June 2 “it would be against a background of certainty.”