Kiwis in world finals

Press, 8 September 1989, Page 40

Kiwis in world finals

NZPA Barcelona Several of New Zealand’s leading athletes get an ideal preparation for January’s Commonwealth Games when they compete in the World Cup finals, starting in Barcelona tonight. Ten New Zealanders are included in the 44strong Oceania team for the finals. Selection was based on performances at the Australian national championships in Brisbane last March, and with the Auckland Games looming this represents an ideal opportunity for top quality pre-Games competition. Several of New Zealand’s top athletes are absent, notably the javelin exponent, Gavin Lovegrove — fourth in the Commonwealth last year — who pulled out with a back injury, Peter Renner and John Walker, while leading Australians Darren Clark and Debbie Flintoff-King have also withdrawn. - ,- Nine teams are competing, including Oceania, Asia, Africa, the Americas (excluding the United States), Great Britain, East Germany, a European selection and the United States, with the host, Spain, taking the final spot in the men’s event and the Soviet Union completing the women’s field. Each team has one competitor in ; every event, which comprises straight finals, with no heats or qualifying rounds. The Canterbury javelin thrower, Kay Nordstrom, is thd only New Zealander in action today in a 12-event programme. The other New Zealand women in the squad are the 10,000 m hope, Marguerite Buist, of Waikato, and sprinters Bev Peterson (Canterbury), Michelle Seymour (Wellington) and Helen Pirovano (Hawke’s Bay).