Edinburgh diary No spirit, says Walker
NZPA-AP Edinburgh New Zealand’s John Walker, the 1976 Olympic 1500 m gold medalist, said yesterday he was dismayed at the lack of spirit and enthusiasm for the thirteenth Commonwealth Games. "Yoti’d never think this was the Commonwealth Games,” said Walker just hours before the opening ceremony.
“It’s certainly not like the Olympics, or even other , Commonwealth games I’ve been to. "The fact is that you can still get tickets for the opening ceremony, and it is just hours away. And they’re still putting the
scaffolding on the (Meadowbank) Stadium. “I remember at the last Olympics (in Los Angeles in 1984), the athletes were having a good time in the village. They were swapping pins and exchanging banners, and doing a lot of fun things. “Here, there’s no atmosphere. It’s boring.” Much of the excitement and looseness at the village has been diminished by lack of athletes there, because of boycotts by 32 nations. “If those athletes were here,” said Walker, “I don’t think they would have been able to cope with the village. There’s nothing to do here.”
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Press, 26 July 1986, Page 31
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184Edinburgh diary No spirit, says Walker Press, 26 July 1986, Page 31
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