ready for
pp. 20-21 · Read in the full issue
Tahiti gets ready for the Games
The impressive new $U51,300,000 stadium, built at Pirae, Tahiti, for the Fourth South Pacific Games in Sep tember, was officially opened on the evening of June 22 by the Governor of French Polynesia, Mr. Pierre Angeli.
Work on the stadium began in November, 1967. It was designed to seat 10,000 people, including 2,300 under cover.
At an athletics display after the offi cial opening ceremony, French Poly nesia’s champion pole vaulter Stanley Drollet, leapt to a new height of 14 ft 6 in. This was 4 in. better than his previous best, and 151 in. better than his performance at the Port Moresby Games in 1969 when he won the sil ver medal. The winner on that occa sion was Y. Bonnet de Larboyne, of New Caledonia, who set a new Games record with a leap of 13 ft 10 in.
In a soccer match following the athletics display, a team representing Tahiti beat a touring Welsh team by two goals to one, after being one-all at half-time.
“Your victory was well-merited”, the Welsh captain said after the game.
By July’s end, Tahiti was about ready to host the Games. Apart from the huge bill for the new Olympique stadium, Tahiti has spent SUSBOO,OOO on renovating the old . Fautaua stadium, almost rebuilding it and re laying the cycle track; SUS7OO,OOO on the new Olympic-size swimming pool, and $U5550,000 on organisation and billeting.
There are two villages for the Lsoo' competitors, one at the Lycee Pauli Gaugin, which will house 1,000, andl the other at another school with room for 500. There will be room for 1,000 visitors at the hotels.
Rehearsals for the Games were in full swing in the various territories by the end of July, and a few new “hopes” were emerging. Fiji touna a promising long-distance runner iff Rajendra Prasad, one of the first Fiji- Indians to shine over long distance.
In a training run in Suva in the third week of July, he covered the 5,000 metres in 15 min. 54.7 sec., only 9.9 sec. slower than the Games record established at Noumea in 1966 by R. Morgan-Morris, of Nauru, ano
8.1 sec. better than the time at Port Moresby in 1969.
Morgan-Morris is also running well in Nauru and, if he reaches peak form just at the right time, he could take the gold medal for Nauru in the 5,000 metres.
His time over the distance during an athletics match between Nauru and a GEIC team was 15 min. 57.5 sec., 3 min. 78.9 sec. in front of his team mate Karl Cabwea.
Nauru won all the events, both men’s and women’s athletics and also a tennis tournament.
Outstanding for Nauru were Tony Bowditch, holder of the Games 1,500 metres record, who won the 1,500 metres and the 800 metres; Nelu, win ner of the 200 metres and 400 metres and Tawaieta, who won the women’s 400 and 800 metres. Karakoa was GEIC’s fastest man.
Fiji’s swimming coach, Bob Ken nedy, takes a dim view of the Games swimming programme. “It’s too crammed”, he complained.
What upset him was the fact that the Tahiti programme is almost iden tical t 0 the 1966 programme about which Fiji complained. Not only have the complaints been ignored, but four relay heats have been added for the first time, and to make heats possible 10 teams are needed against only six at the last Games.
Early morning starts have also an noyed Fiji’s coach. At the Port Moresby Games swimming started at 7 p.m. and the swimmers were able to lie in for a morning. At Tahiti, however, they’ll have to be up for 9 a.m. starts.
Kennedy thought the planners had gone out of their way to limit the free time available to swimmers, who would be hard-pushed to see some of the other events. He also thought that, as the swimmers would be tired at the closing stages, it was too much to expect them to swim 800 and 1 500 metre finals right at the end.
“Overall, the programme is model led too much on the Olympics”, said Kennedy.
Fourteen territories will take part m the Games against 12 in the 1969 Games. Fiji will not be represented in three of the 17 sports—softball rugby and cycling. Softball and cyc ling get little support in Fiji, which isnt the reason for the withdrawal from rugby. Where rugby is con cerned, Fiji feels—and everyone igrees-—that she is far too good for he other teams.
The number of sports each terri ,° ry J.s.competing j n is: Cook Islands GEIC 2 ’ Guam 13: Nauru I; New Caledonia 14: New Hebrides s; Papua New Guinea 13; French olynesia 17; Solomons 6; American >amoa 6; Tonga 5; Wallis and Futuna
8. Western Samoa’s entries were not known when the list was compiled.