Athletics: 'World class' claim off track

Les Mills. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Athletics New Zealand's farewell to departing high-performance director Kevin Ankrom has angered former stars like Les Mills, Roy Williams and others.

Ankrom has resigned after four years at ANZ and is shifting to Ireland where he will take charge of Irish elite athletes ahead of the Olympic Games in London next year. However, it was the wording of ANZ CEO Scott Newman - himself a former triple jump champion - in the media release announcing Ankrom's departure which upset some.

In praising Ankrom's work, Newman said he had implemented "a world class performance programme". He also said: "Over the last four years Athletics NZ has enjoyed its best ever series of international performances and has secured unprecedented levels of high-performance funding from Sparc."

Its best ever international performances?

Some might beg to differ and cite the heroics of the 1960s and people named Peter Snell, Murray Halberg and John Davies - to name just a few. Or there was a similar period in the 70s involving John Walker, Rod Dixon and Dick Quax.

Newman said yesterday that his words had been clearly intended to cover the "modern era"; pertaining to the period when world championships applied (from 1983) which post-dates the Snell and Walker eras. "It's a different era, with different elements. We were not trying to denigrate what Snell, Walker and many others have achieved. Why would we?"

Mills, who won five medals (one gold) at four Commonwealth Games between 1958 and 1970, also competed in three Olympics, was New Zealand's first director of coaching for athletics and athletics coach at the 1978 Commonwealth Games.

He said: "When I heard that, I just thought what a stupid statement it was for anyone to make - let alone a senior official of ANZ. It's totally irresponsible.

"They seem to be trying to beef up their own performance; to give themselves a bit of a drum roll but in the process they are forgetting greats like Snell, Halberg, Davies, Bill Baillie, Barry Magee and Mike Ryan in the marathon - and then there's Walker, Dixon and Quax.

"That was the time when New Zealand was on top of the world in middle-distance running - with Olympic medals and world records.

"There is no way the last four years have been the greatest era in New Zealand athletics, no matter which way you measure it. I have never met Kevin Ankrom and have no axe to grind with him. I have no idea whether he was good, bad or indifferent in his role. But for Newman to say that he was behind the 'best ever' era in our athletics is daft."

Mills said Valerie Adams was already a champion when Ankrom arrived and Nick Willis was already training and racing overseas. Even well-performed New Zealand athletes like Kimberley Smith had a measure of success "that cannot really be said to be anything to do with the high-performance director here".

Mills agreed that such wording from Newman might be designed to increase their standing in the eyes of funds providers Sparc.

"If that's so and they are beating their chests and saying, 'look how good we are' - well, that's cynical. But if they actually believe what they are saying... that's just daft."

Roy Williams, gold medal decathlon winner at the 1966 Commonwealth Games, said: "I know Scott Newman well and he is a good guy. But, as a four-time New Zealand champion in the 1990s and a student of our sport, he should have known better than to make such a ridiculous statement.

"It is an insult to all our world-class athletes who have gone before, including Sir Peter Snell, Sir Murray Halberg, Sir John Walker and many others. He should be asked for an explanation, then an apology."

Baillie, a former world record-holder, said: "I think this guy [Newman] is away with the dicky birds. How could you claim that? Apart from Valerie, Beatrice Faumuina, Nick Willis and Nikki Hamblin who did well in India, we haven't had any top-rated athletes in recent years - and most of those have had little to do with any high-performance programme here."

Newman said yesterday: "It's just semantics. This was about the depth of international performances in modern times. Certainly in measures like the world championship points table, we have now scored our highest overall points ever."