Athletics: muted response to Walker criticism

New Zealand athletics coach Steve Hollings has staved off stinging criticism of his Olympic Games squad from 1500m great John Walker.

The 1976 Olympic 1500m champion said earlier on Thursday that track and field athletes had gone to Sydney with the wrong attitude. They did not have the killer instinct.

``Even if you don't think you can win a medal you go there for best performance, or try to actually improve on your best,'' Walker said.

``You don't go there to take part, you don't go there to have fun, you don't go there for the experience.''

It has been a dismal Games for New Zealand athletics, with none of their team reaching personal bests.

Only discus thrower Beatrice Faumuina made a final.

Sprinter Chris Donaldson pulled out injured without running a step, and high jumper Glenn Howard jumped poorly while competing with a pain-killing injection in a foot.

Hollings rejected the view that his athletes were in Sydney to have fun.

``If that's John's view, that's John's view,'' he said.

``I don't think people come to the Olympics not to try, but it's very easy to make those comments from afar. If he wants to make comments like that, that's his prerogative.''

John Davies, who won a 1500m bronze at the 1964 Olympic Games and coaches runner Toni Hodgkinson, said no athlete came to the Olympics to fail.

``Not one of the athletes that I'm aware of - not just track and field - came here not to do well, they've tried exceptionally hard,'' he said.

``They really put their hearts and souls into it. And if it didn't come off, they're distraught, absolutely distraught. They're not going around smiling, saying 'oh well, that's it'.''

There was no use going to Europe to race, as Walker suggested, as it was impossible to get into races, Davies said.

Even when an Olympic finalist, Hodgkinson had found it hard to get racing in Europe.

That caused stress, which was not conducive to good performances.

``Instead of reacting this way, what we should be doing is working out a way that sport can progress,'' he said. ``My own view is that we don't invest enough in coaching - if we don't teach people well they don't pass exams.

``If you have got talented athletes in New Zealand - and we have very few, very few - they have to be intelligently coached.

``The other point is people must enjoy sport, they can't be good if they don't enjoy it. (Olympic 10,000m champion Haile) Gebrselassie is a wonderful example of that, he loves the competition.''

While Faumuina was unable to fathom on Wednesday night was why she threw so poorly for 13th in the discus final, coach Les Mills on Thursday the answer was simple.

``I know what it was,'' he said.

``Inevitably, when you are quite capable of throwing a reasonable distance - and she was quite capable of throwing 65 metres - it comes down to not being able to deliver in the sense that your mind doesn't properly control what your body is doing.

``When you come to the Olympics it is a severe test. It's part of winning an Olympic medal to be a complete athlete, with all facets of what you do under control.

``It's like a crucible of truth. If there is one little thing which can find you out at the Olympics it will.

``One little thing leads to another little thing, which leads to a bad result.

``In the end, it's runs on the board that count and in the end other girls threw better than she did - it's simple.''

Craig Barrett will complete the New Zealand track and field effort on Friday morning: 50km road walk.

- NZPA