Precious snatched for awards

Question: what do hockey and weightlifting have in common?
The answer will be revealed on October 27 when weightlifting icon Precious McKenzie appears as guest of honour at the Wairarapa hockey awards being held in the new pavilion at the Clareville complex.
Auckland-based McKenzie was more than happy to do the honours after being approached by hockey committee member Paul Jordan.
"Precious has been a friend for many years," Jordan said.
"He is a man of huge standing, one of the all-time greats in the world of weightlifting. He's a true sporting hero. It's just wonderful to have a man of such distinction attend our prizegiving."
Jordan was confident McKenzie would be bringing his medal haul with him to add further motivation to the young hockey players attending the function.
"It will fit in perfectly. After all, this is a Commonwealth Games year and hopefully seeing and hearing Precious will motivate the younger players to think towards future games."
The occasion starts with a meet and greet social hour before food is served, followed by speeches and prizegiving for the season just completed.
South African-born McKenzie, distinctive by his diminutive 1.45m height, gained international fame after moving to Britain due to problems encountered with the apartheid system.
He went on to represent England in the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games and gained four Commonwealth Games gold medals for England and New Zealand between 1968 and 1978, lifting in the bantamweight and flyweight divisions. These achievements were interspersed with winning several world powerlifting and Masters World powerlifting titles. He was finally inducted into the South African Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Since moving to New Zealand in the 1970s and in keeping with his illustrious sporting career, McKenzie has become an internationally recognised figure in the field of back injury prevention.