Passion for coaching overtook love of race

By JULIE MIDDLETON

Olympic legend and athletic star-maker John Davies' passion for coaching remained to the very end.

The night before he died of melanoma at his home in Meadowbank, Auckland, Davies gripped athlete Melissa Moon's hand as she sat by his bed and gave her pointers for her next big race.

"He was very weak," said Wellington-based Moon, 33, who contests the world mountain-running championships in Alaska in September and who has worked with Davies for 11 years. "But he grabbed my hand really tightly ... and started giving me all these instructions for my race.

"He went through a list of what to do, and things to watch out for over there and what to do during the race ... [They were] his last instructions for me."

Davies, 65, died peacefully at 6.15am yesterday, at the home he shared with wife Patsy O'Malley and his 7-year-old grandson, Eli, surrounded by friends and family.

Gentle Welsh music played, reflecting Davies' cultural background, said Patsy O'Malley.

Coached by the revolutionary Arthur Lydiard and part of the stellar distance-running cohort that included Peter Snell and Murray Halberg, Davies won silver for New Zealand in the mile at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth and bronze in the 1500m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games - both races famously won by Snell.

But an Achilles tendon injury finished Davies' running career and he turned to coaching.

Among his champions are Anne Audain and Lorraine Moller, both now living in the United States, Dick Quax, Peter O'Donoghue, Mike Ryan, Phil Clode, Toni Hodgkinson and Moon.

A member of the Athletics New Zealand board, he was appointed president of the New Zealand Olympic Committee in October 2000.

Snell, now an exercise physiologist in the US, said: "We were good friends right through and I was absolutely delighted when he beat the old-boy network to get the presidency."

NZOC general secretary Barry Maister said Davies encapsulated "the values of Olympism", believing that sport played a major role in building character.

John Walker, 1976 Olympic 1500m gold medallist, described Davies' death as a "a big loss to New Zealand sport".

Quax, a one-time world 5000m record-holder, became Davies' first disciple at the age of 19. Like many other athletes, he came to regard Davies as a confidant.

"He was more than just a coach to me," says Quax, who set up the sports event company Athletics Marketing and Management with Davies in 1991. "He developed into my best friend."

Marathoner Clode described a pragmatic, relaxed but dignified man who influenced his life more than any other, imparting life skills as well as athletic confidence.

Hodgkinson, an Atlanta Olympian, said she held "very special memories" of friendship on and off the track. Davies was master of ceremonies at her wedding.

Quax said Davies' humility, directness and sincerity were coupled with generosity.

"John always had time for people, whether they were world-class Olympic athletes or your average Joe Jogger, your weekend warrior. He would help them all out."

Quax said goodbye to a weak but alert Davies on Saturday.

"He said he had had a wonderful life, and his greatest satisfaction was seeing other people achieve."

John Llewellyn Davies is survived by Patsy O'Malley, his second wife; son Richard and daughter Bronwen from his first marriage; and Eli, the grandson he and Patsy adopted.

The funeral will be held at 2pm on Friday at St Mary's in Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Parnell.

John Davies

1938: Born in London to Welsh parents.

1953: Family move to NZ.

1956: Sets Otago and Southland secondary school records in 880 yards and mile.

1962: Silver in the mile at Perth Commonwealth Games.

1963: Runs mile in 3m 58.8s at Dunedin.

1964: Bronze, 1500m, Tokyo Olympic Games.

1967: Achilles tendon injury forces retirement.

1986-1991: National distance coach.

1987, 1991: Coached NZ world championships team.

1989-94: Director, Athletics New Zealand board.

1998: Coach to NZ's Seoul Olympic team.

1990: Made an MBE.

2000: Elected president of NZ Olympic Committee.