Walk-up Start In Hope To Grab A Medal

The Age

Friday December 8, 2006

RAY SMITH

Memories of the long walk, the Russians and the unbelievable food

"THE Russians had broken the world record for race walking in Moscow a month or two before coming out here. Once here, they suffered from . . . time change, jet lag. Of course, it didn't help that on the day of the walk, we turned on a Melbourne north wind.

"The hot weather disadvantaged all the Europeans. There were a lot of retirees. I think there was about 22 starters and only 13 finished.

"When we came into the Olympic stadium to do our final lap, the stadium was packed. When I came in, there a huge roar. Later, I thought to myself, 'Gee, footballers get about a half-dozen of those every week, and I got one in my lifetime.' I'll cherish that.

I was actually a short distance walker, not long distance. I was training for the 20 kilometres when my coach, Percy, said to me, 'Ray, this 20-kilometre walk, there's a lot of people trying for that. I don't think there'll be too many people trying for the 50- kilometre, so you might have a better chance. If you're prepared to do the work, do the 50-kilometre.'

"So I upped my distance training, which involved going out on a Sunday for four hours. I only did three of them (50-kilometre walks) - I did one to see what it was like, I did the Olympic trial and then I did the Olympics.

"I remember there was tons of food in the Olympic village. It was unbelievable. In the dining hall where the Russians were, the Russian coaches apparently stood at the end of the buffet and started clearing stuff off the athletes' plates, because they were eating that much.

"A lot of countries hadn't seen such quality food in such abundance before. At the time, yoghurt had just reached Australia. I remember Shirley Strickland walking along the buffet, spotting the yoghurt, and then very gingerly tasting it."

© 2006 The Age

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