Medal mystery may be solved

Press, 9 March 1988, Page 72

Medal mystery may be solved

MALCOLM CONDIE

Nearly six months ago, the Canterbury women’s road cycling team came second in the inaugural national 40km teams’ time trial in Wellington. The four riders, Lisa Gooding, Gael Ashby, Sally Fraser and Jane Sullivan, are still awaiting their medals. They are not alone. The winning team, Waikato, and the third placed West Coast North Island team have also yet to! receive their medals. ! ' At the time of the presentation ceremony, ’ a Wellington centre official told the riders there were no medals because they had been allegedly stolen from the officials’ caravan, but they would be sent to the I cyclists

v ! as soon as they were available. The president 'of the New Zealand Amateur Cycling Association, Barbara Levido, of Wellington, said this week that medals had not been ordered for that race. The whereabouts of the medals was questioned by the secretary of the Canterbury centre, Bruce Dawe, at a national executive ’meeting as far back as November. Mrs Levido gave an assurance that she would act immediately. Through the restructuring last year of the N.Z.A.C.A. and the appointment of a Christchurch man, Gordon Reid, to the position of administration | officer, Mrs Levido said that she

: would order the medals herself from a Wellington : jeweller. She admitted though that the matter “went completely out of my head.” After a written inquiry from the Canterbury centre last year, Mrs Lev- : ido said that she rang the engravers but was informed that the person : responsible for making 1 the medals had gone to Australia and that they ; would not be ready before : Christmas. Mrs Levido said a special batch of medals had to be made for the > women because there were no other stocks of old medals. The i N.Z.A.C.A. had just i redesigned its , medals. ! [Winners of events at the

grass track nationals, in Palmerston North on January 30, 1988, received old medals. At the January meeting Of the N.Z.A.C.A., it was pointed out that the medals had still not reached the women. At the hard track nationals in Wanganui two weeks ago, Gooding, approached Mrs Levido and asked her where the medals were. “I was very! embarrassed when Lisa came up to see me and said she hadn’t got the medals yet. So I got in touch I with the • man again last week and he said ! they were sitting there waiting to be plated. ; “It is in hand now. They will be in the administration officer’s hands by

Wednesday. I wrote and told Lisa this last week,” Mrs Levido said. As yet, Gooding has not received the letter. The mix up in getting the medals to the women, according to Mrs Levido, was because she thought the engravers would post the medals directly to Gordon Reid who would then post them to the appropriate cycling centres. i“lt’s been very poor that the manufacturers didn’t follow it up and that I didn’t know that the medals had not been received,” she said. iNow, six months after the race, it looks as if the medal winners can expect their rewards some time wittiin the next week.