Triathlon: 1976 gold was inspiration for future champion

By EUGENE BINGHAM

ATHENS - As a 5-year-old boy, Hamish Carter watched John Walker cross the line to win gold at the 1976 Olympics.

It was a moment, he said last night, that had inspired him to become an athlete.

He dreamed of doing the same himself, but never knew how it could be possible.

On the sandy shores of the Mediterranean, Carter and his triathlon teammate Bevan Docherty created their own great moment of New Zealand sport, an achievement that will inspire generations to come.

Only twice before have we seen two New Zealand flags at the top of the flagpole in the Olympics.

When the anthem finished playing, floating on the warm gentle breeze as swimmers turned to watch from the bay, you wanted them to play it again.

Well, it was only fair since there were two New Zealanders there, surely?

In the stand, Anna Lawrence, the former hockey player who has come to Athens as an athletes' support services official, charmed her way into an area where officious Greek officials would normally never have let her go.

"Oh, you are Kiwis?" the official said to us. "It's okay. This is your day." And wasn't it just.

(By way of a footnote, it wasn't possible to get away with absolutely everything in the stands yesterday just by virtue of being a Kiwi. When Lawrence stood on a chair and waved the silver fern as Carter and Docherty marched to the medal ceremony, the same official came and asked her to stand down. "Please," she said, "it's just that I will get in trouble.")

Seeing two New Zealanders on the podium will be long remembered with great pride, just as we still look back 40 years to when Peter Snell and John Davies won gold and bronze in 1500m.

Their double joy was special not just because they had managed to pull off a magnificent sporting achievement. It was special, for once, to see two friends up on the dais, treasuring an Olympic moment together.

So often, medal ceremonies are awkward occasions - three people who are either great rivals or who hardly know each other stand shuffling on a small stage, forced to celebrate in front of millions.

But here were two New Zealanders, two friends, celebrating the most important day of their sporting careers together, and creating a scene that may just inspire another Olympic champion.