Dick Quax. Photo / Paul Estcourt
In the first of a series on Olympic experiences, we talk to the 5000m silver medallist about the 1972 and 1976 Games - and missing out in the 1980 Moscow boycott.
Stepping up to the dais to get the silver medal in 1976 ... I can't say it was a feeling of elation immediately. I was really disappointed I was second and that the New Zealand flag wasn't being hoisted. There are a lot of people who've won silver
who would feel that same way. At the same time, I was aware of the fact that I had brought a lot of pleasure to family and friends and my countrymen and all the people who had helped me over the years so in that respect it was special.
Watching the attack on the Munich Olympics unfold ... was like a huge smack in the guts. I had just gone out for breakfast and when I got back, the New Zealand quarters were inside the cordon area and we had trouble getting back in. It was early in the morning and the gravity of the situation didn't dawn on us until later in the day. It unfolded before us - we saw the armed police and the negotiations. Because it was my first Olympics I had arrived feeling like they were a wonderful thing and I wanted to experience everything I could. So when the attack on the Israelis occurred a lot of athletes were thinking, "How could they do this?" It was a feeling of being violated.
The difference I noticed in 1976 ... was how much security there was. It was unbelievable. From the moment we arrived, we were surrounded by security. There were armed escorts on the bus, we had one police car in front of the bus and one behind and a helicopter overhead. It was amazing how much the Olympics had changed, in those four years, from being fairly carefree to literally having an armed escort.
Missing out on the 1980 Games because of the boycott ... was disappointing but it would have been a bigger disappointment if I had never gone to an Olympics or achieved a measure of success in Montreal. While I would have liked to have gone, it hasn't seared my soul the way it has for some athletes.
Being an Olympian people recognise ... has meant that through my adult life to some extent I have always been conscious of the fact that the eyes of people are on me. I would never say I've been an angel but I have always been conscious of trying to maintain some kind of dignity in public. I look at some athletes today and I see some of the antics they get up to and I can't imagine that in years to come it will be something they'll be proud of. I think I'm always conscious of the fact that it's about being more than just an Olympian - in a small country like New Zealand you tend to be under a certain amount of scrutiny.
My favourite Olympic moment ... would undoubtedly be the 5000m at Montreal. It's still very clear in my mind - the tactics and the people and how the race transpired. At the time you aren't conscious of it but once you see it, you realise how amazing and exciting it must have been for people back here in New Zealand in particular, watching two New Zealanders (Rod Dixon and I) vying for the medals.
