British men finally get relay gold medals
Britain's men's 4x400m relay team have finally received their gold medals from the 1997 World Championships having been elevated from silver after the belated disqualification of the US team.
The United States were stripped of the title won in Athens when Antonio Pettigrew confessed in 2008 to doping between 1997 and 2003. The US also lost their 2000 Olympic title.
A laborious process of investigation, appeal and reallocation followed, culminating in Saturday's presentation by World Athletics President Seb Coe to Roger Black, Iwan Thomas, Jamie Baulch, Mark Richardson and Mark Hylton (who ran in the heats).
At London's Diamond League meeting on Saturday the former athletes were given a rousing welcome by the 60,000 sellout crowd, who then stood for a very belated national anthem.
"We're proud to be able to give these athletes their moment in front of a home crowd. It's a chance to recognise not just their talent, but the values they stood for. This medal means even more because of how long they've waited for it," said Cherry Alexander, UK Athletics' strategic lead for major events.
Pettigrew was found dead at the age of 42 in 2010 in his locked car in the US, with an autopsy report saying he died by suicide.
Earlier on Saturday, the British government confirmed its support for bids to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships, last held in London in 2017 in a regularly sold-out Olympic Stadium.
"Bringing the World Athletics Championships to the UK would be a moment of great national pride, building on our global reputation for hosting memorable sporting events that showcase the very best talent," Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said in a statement.
"Hosting these championships would not only unlock opportunities for UK athletes but it would inspire the next generation to get involved and pursue their ambitions."
The United Kingdom will also bid for the 2029 World Para Athletics championships, with a plan to hold events outside London.
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NZ Herald
5 hours ago
- NZ Herald
How Black Ferns comebacks and versatility shaped the World Cup squad
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NZ Herald
7 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Gisborne kayaking, surf lifesaving great Liz Thompson stepping back
'We had an adults' group under way. We lost some of the equipment they were using in Cyclone Gabrielle but they are growing again ... I'll enjoy paddling with them.' Thompson is president of Waikanae Surf Life Saving Club – the first woman to hold that position – and is the first and so far only woman to be made a life member of the club. In his book, A Shade of Blue – A Touch of Gold, on the history of Waikanae SLSC from 1950 to 2000, Dick Glover reflected on candidates for the unofficial title of Waikanae 'Lifesaver of the Century'. In his opinion, five members stood out. 'There is really only one candidate for the women's title and that must be Liz Thompson, nee Blencowe,' Glover wrote. 'Liz's phenomenal record was that, since the inception of women's ski racing at national level, she was placed either first or second in a ski event in every one of the 15 seasons between 1983 and 1998. 'When her results in surf swims and leading role in R & R [rescue and resuscitation] are taken into consideration, she won 14 New Zealand titles and was placed second or third in 24 other events. 'Add to that her encouragement and coaching of young women competitors on top of personal training, a career as a policewoman promoted to sergeant and the onset of motherhood in the mid-90s. The mind boggles at how Liz could juggle so many facets in her life and remain a top competitor.' The other four in Glover's shortlist were Bruce Adams, Grant Bramwell, Alan Thompson and Barry McLean, with McLean getting the author's nod as Waikanae 'Lifeguard of the Century'. Liz Blencowe married Alan Thompson in 1991. Outspoken and driven, Olympic double gold-medallist Thompson could be a handful for officialdom, but Blencowe was a world-class athlete in her own right and they met on equal terms. Working together and separately as required, they built on solid foundations to establish Poverty Bay Kayak Club as a force in New Zealand canoeing. They met before the 1980 Moscow Olympics, when New Zealand canoeists competed in the Australian national championships. Alan Thompson was one of three Kiwi canoeists who competed in the Moscow Games (team coach was Gisborne's John Grant ... he and Thompson adapted running coach Arthur Lydiard's training methods to canoeing). Blencowe had been nominated for the Australian team by her sport – Australia competed in the boycott-affected Games under the Olympic flag – but she did not make the Olympic committee's selection. Their paths crossed again in 1982 at international regattas in the lead-up to the world championships. While European athletes went home between regattas, the New Zealanders, Australians and North Americans hung around the venues, because home was too far away. 'We got to know quite a few of them,' she said. 'I came to Gisborne at the end of '82. I had got to know Alan and the rest of the group. Not a lot was happening in the way of squad for me to train with in Melbourne [her base at the time]. I wanted a fresh outlook. I could have gone to Hungary, but I didn't speak the language, and getting into Hungary was a bit iffy at the time.' It came down to Canada or New Zealand, and Alan was a 'big factor' in her choice to come to Gisborne. Liz Thompson has her game face on, racing for Waikanae Surf Life Saving Club in a surf ski event during her competitive heyday. She returned to Australia for the selection trials for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and was the only woman picked to paddle for Australia at the Games. Women competing in individual events then had only a 500m race in Olympic kayak sprint racing and Liz finished eighth in the final. Back in Gisborne, Alan was keen to have Liz as part of a women's programme. 'He brought in Blair Campbell as coach and recruited three ski paddlers from Ōtaki,' Liz said. 'I had to teach them how to paddle a kayak. 'The boys had done really well. Brian Wilson and Benny Hutchings were the coaches, and Grant [Bramwell], Alan [Thompson] and Robbie Jenkinson were among the paddlers training together. 'Kayak club members used to train from Bill De Costa's section at the end of Fitzherbert St. The woman next door used to let us use her hose to wash the mud off. 'Then the Kiwanis club got behind us and built a clubhouse at Anzac Park. It was opened in 1985. When the girls from Ōtaki arrived, we had changing rooms and hot showers ... amazing facilities.' Kayaking and surf lifesaving co-existed in Liz and Alan's sporting world from 1983 to 2000, with coaching taking a steadily increasing share of their time. From featuring in the lifesaving medal tallies primarily as an individual competitor, Liz Thompson partnered up-and-coming athletes in the double ski, winning nationals gold with Jackie Callahan twice and Leigh Webster three times, and silver with Kristen Glover twice. The first double ski win with Webster, in 1995, came early in Thompson's pregnancy with daughter Kim, and the third, in 1998, came when son Quaid was 5 weeks old. At the latter carnival, Thompson was also a member of silver-medal-winning teams in the women's taplin relay and women's six-place. She gained particular satisfaction from coaching Rachel Beale in the lead-up to her victory in the women's under-19 surf ski in the national champs at Ōakura in 2000, and being handler for Webster when she won the women's ironperson race in the nationals at Gisborne's Midway Beach in 2001. And apart from a few years off when her children were small, she's done her bit on beach patrols. Thompson was born in Mackay, North Queensland, on January 10, 1961. The family lived further south, in a town called Sarina, which didn't have a hospital. A brother, David, is three years older. Their father Lou worked for Kraft Foods and was in Queensland 'for something to do with Vegemite'. Mother Pat was a swimming coach and physical education teacher. When Thompson was 2, the family headed back to Melbourne, her parents' hometown. Pat Blencowe used fun and familiarity in her swimming lessons. She let children get familiar with the water by playing in it and when she introduced them to swimming, it was breaststroke first. In her own swim coaching for Waikanae SLSC, Thompson adopted her mother's approach and didn't teach freestyle until her charges had mastered the 'lifesaving breaststroke'. When Quaid was 7, and about to compete in a breaststroke race, Thompson explained the stroke in terms she had used teaching it to him: 'Open-the-curtains arms and squash-mosquito legs'. Quaid duly won the race. As a youngster, Thompson had followed her brother into whitewater kayaking and soon added slalom and sprint versions of the sport. In 1981, she competed in the world championships of all three disciplines but eventually concentrated on sprint races. She had coached in one discipline or another from the late 1980s, but after a break when the children were young, she got back into kayak coaching after daughter Kim and a few friends became interested and helped development coach Agi Szabo. When Szabo left, Thompson stepped up. 'You have to help them to enjoy what they're doing, or they won't keep coming back,' she said. 'From the outset, you want to teach the basics of good technique. 'A big thing is having a peer group. If you get a good group coming through a holiday programme and some stay on and join the club, it's a lot easier if they have mates down there. It's more fun. 'If I'm running a programme for youngsters getting into paddling, I want to see the kids who haven't found their 'thing' yet. A lot of 12-year-olds just love getting out on the river, love the fact that they're quite good at it. You can teach them the rest. 'Every kid who has done a season or two has got something out of it, learnt about themselves, about co-operating as a team, about self-discipline. Even if they don't continue, they have learnt something. It is not wasted effort. You have done something for that kid.' Thompson was inducted into the Surf Life Saving New Zealand Sport Hall of Fame in 2016, along with – among others – Cory Hutchings and sometime Waikanae competitor Anna Ballara. Alan Thompson had been inducted in 1995. In February this year, Liz Thompson was announced as one of four 2024 recipients of the Canoe Racing New Zealand Outstanding Service Award recognising outstanding contribution at club, regional or national level over at least 10 years of service to the sport.
Otago Daily Times
8 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Boarder, 78, still cutting shapes
You won't find many snowboarders on Queenstown's ski slopes who took up the sport in the 1980s. An exception is 78-year-old local retiree Graeme Burgess, who threw away his skis after seeing a snowboarder on Cardrona in about 1989. Raised in Tokanui, Southland, Graeme used to come up to ski, mostly on Queenstown's Coronet Peak, every winter weekend when he was living in Invercargill, especially from his late 20s after he and wife Zeta had had a family. He'd already shown good balance, building and teaching himself to ride low and tall unicycles from a young age. As a youngster he also waterskied, starting on two skis then progressing to one, and entered competitions for many years, performing tricks and jumps. Then from 20 he also raced speedway motorcycles, buying one of international racer Ivan Mauger's bikes from the latter's brother. He perfected racing sideways at 100kmh and even raced against legendary Southland motorcycle racer Burt Munro. "He was too good, but half the time he was stopped because his bikes were blowing up." Graeme thinks his single ski waterskiing and speedway racing meant he took to snowboarding — in the sport's comparative infancy — like a duck to water, with no need for lessons. He immediately hired a snowboard at Cardrona, then bought his first — a Burton Big Air with wire bindings to fit ski boots — from Queenstown's NZ Shred. He's now on to his sixth board, an Elan Ballistic, which he imports from Slovenia along with bindings and boots. "I use alpine carving race boards with special hard boots, similar to ski boots but much shorter. "This aspect of boarding isn't so popular here but is still an Olympic sport in the dual slalom." Till they stopped, Graeme competed every year in the New Zealand Snowboard Masters in slalom and boardercross events, often winning on handicap against much younger riders. He'd also compete in Coronet's regular Sunday races though he might be the only boarder. He's ridden, too, in Europe, Canada and the United States where he's raced with his good friend Dick Schulze from Truckee, California. Nowadays he picks and chooses when he goes up, and only went six or eight times last year. "I'm on the first chairlift, away from the crowds, because I love to go quite fast, so I don't mess around bumps and jumps and allthat." Though skiers sometimes complain about snowboarders' behaviour, Graeme — who's aiming to ride till he's 80, in two seasons' time — says he's never knocked a skier off, "but I've been run over the top by a ski instructor". Meanwhile, Graeme's not idle in summer, either. He's regularly off boating and fishing, and he and Zeta base themselves at their Stewart Island home over the holiday season. He dredges for oysters and used to scuba dive, too. Graeme formerly owned an engineering business in Invercargill for 26 years, selling up when he was 56 and retiring to Queenstown. Astutely, he'd invested in three homes on the lower flanks of Queenstown, renting them out before selling them mortgage-free. He and Zeta lived in one for a year before moving into a new home overlooking the Shotover River 18 years ago. Graeme's been active in the Lions Club, first down south then with the Queenstown club, and helps its fundraising by chopping wood and looking after its coin-operated binoculars on the town pier. He enjoys the company of several groups including one that meets at Arrowtown's Fork & Tap every Thursday. He also runs a spud-in-a-bucket comp each year — competitors, limited to nine at a time, wear PGA-embroidered jackets, which stands for 'potato growers association'. Harking back to his engineering days, Graeme loves tinkering — "I love fixing things and if something's broken I'll get to the bottom of it". Though he stopped speedway racing at the age of 60, he now rides a 1300cc motorcycle which he often takes on trips with mates. "We ride very fast all around the place," he says, before quickly adding, "we're not very high speed".
