Javelin throwers angry

Press, 27 February 1989, Page 26

Javelin throwers angry

PA Wellington The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, Gavin Lovegrove, was a disgruntled athlete on Saturday after a javelin shoot-out with John Stapylton-Smith in Wellington brought little satisfaction for either. Lovegrove, aged 21, won the Chelsea award contest with a 77.96-metre throw, well below his pending national record of 80.70 m. The former world junior record holder finished disgusted to have a 74m credited to his name in a variable series of throws. "That’s the worst I’ve thrown in my life,” the Aucklander said. “There’s no excuse for 74m. I don’t know what’s wrong, I felt pretty good.” The Cantabrian, Stapylton-Smith, was just as annoyed with 72.04 m for second, one week after notching a career best 78.14 m. The 1985 Pacific Conference Games champion said the pressure had affected him. s’m more embarrased than anything,” he

said. "It was a bad day but you’ve got to battle through the bad days.” There were fewer frowns on the track, where the former steeplechaser, Peter Renner, produced a 13min 42.82 s 5000 m, and the 800 m runners, Chris Rogers and Michael Craig, produced sparkling runs to break Commonwealth Games standards. Rogers, aged 26, beat the Wellington champion, Craig, by three metres in Imin 49.39 s at the end of the fastest 800 m run by a New Zealander in almost five years. In the best finish of the day, Otago’s Grant McNeil, aged 20, finished strongly to mow down Simon Poelman and Tim Soper in a 14.46 s 110 m hurdles win. The old hands were also upstaged in the men’s shot put when a Rotorua 17-year-old, Courtney Ireland, threw 16.18 m to beat the three medallists from last year’s senior national championship.