Ryan still peeved

Press, 8 November 1984, Page 14

Ryan still peeved

PA Auckland Kevin Ryan is back in Auckland still with bitter memories at missing out on the New Zealand athletics team for the Los Angeles Olympics. Ryan, a 1976 Olympian and one of New Zealand’s best-performed marathon runners for more than a decade, was nominated for the Los Angeles Games by the New Zealand athletic selectors but missed final selection. “It still upsets me that I wasn’t selected for the Games,” Ryan, who is based in Boston, Said yesterday. “The Games selectors stuck in two Canadian sychronised swimmers, one of whom was naturalised only a few days before the New Zealand team was named. And from what I read they broke up immediately after the Games.” “After what I’ve done for New Zealand over the years, I thought I deserved a little better than I got.” Ryan ran a fine 2h 12min 30s Olympic standard — in last year’s New York City marathon. Had he been selected for the Games he believes he could have finished in the top 10 in the Los Angeles marathon. “I had 10 weeks of solid training behind me and was in good shape when the New

Zealand team was named in April,” Ryan says. “Had I been named in the team, my company told me I could have had as much time off for training as I wanted.” “And I’m confident I would have run well in the Los Angeles heat, for I’ve never had any problems with the beat when running marathons before.” Ryan, aged 36, has been living in Boston with his wife and family for the last four years. He is still in hard training and while here will run the Winstone marathon at Wiri on Sunday week.

He holds the race record at. 2h 12min Ils, but is not expecting to run that fast in this year’s race. “I’m fit, but I’m not quite

as quick as I could be,” he explained. “I should run around the 2h 14min to 2h 15min mark.”

An American whom Ryan coaches is favourite to.win the Winstone event He is Donny Norman, the United States 30km champion, who is aiming for 2h llmin in the Wiri race. In spite of his age, Ryan has no intention of retiring from marathon running. “Carlos Lopes won the Los Angeles Olympic marathon at age 37, and Jack Foster was 42 when he finished second in the 1974 Commonwealth Games marathon in Christchurch, where he ran 2h llmin. Jack has always been an inspiration to me,” he said..