Games show the changing face of the world
Watching the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne on television was a nostalgic experience. I couldn’t help but think back to the last time Australia hosted the Games — 1982 in Brisbane. I was lucky enough to be there as a reporter for The Northern Star newspaper.
Security was tight in Melbourne — one Games reporter told me that every bag was checked and re-checked – as it was back in 1982, when sniffer dogs roamed the media centre. But the reasons for such a strong police presence indicates how the world has changed.
Back in ’82, Joh Bjelke-Petersen was in power in Queensland. He wasn’t just Premier; he was, more or less, a dictator who ruled a police state. Joh saw Aboriginal protesters as the biggest threat to a successful Commonwealth Games, so he instructed police to keep anyone resembling a protester well away from the venues.
It worked. Protests were held: On October 7, 240 people — black and white, men and women — were arrested (see http://www.library.uq.edu.au/fryer/worth_fighting/3.html) in a Brisbane street protest. But security was so tight around the Games venues that it was impossible for any sort of demonstration to be seen by the visiting overseas media.
Aboriginal protesters again demonstrated in Melbourne this year, but no longer were they seen as the major threat. This time it was terrorism. Thankfully, the Games were held without violence, but the spectre of Munich 1972, America’s 9/11 and Al-Qaeda looms large. And, this time around, there was coverage of the Aboriginal protests.
Back in ’82, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were driven around QEII Stadium in an open-topped vehicle in front of 60,000 people. If that scenario was to be repeated today, think Pope-mobile.
And back in ’82, 45 nations of the Commonwealth competed. There were 1580 athletes, according to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Commonwealth_Games
South Africa, still a sporting pariah because of apartheid, wasn’t there. This year there were 75 countries and 4500 athletes. South Africa, post-apartheid and now the Rainbow Nation, was there.
There were 143 events in 12 sports in 1982. This year sports such as synchronised swimming, mountain bike riding, netball, hockey and rugby sevens have been added.
There were some big names on the athletics track in 1982 — a young Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey, who would continue to be well-known to athletics fans until her late 30s; the great British decathlete Daley Thompson; and British 1500m runner Steve Cram. There was high drama on the track — a rare dead-heat in the 200m final between Scotland’s Allan Wells and England’s Mike McFarlane (both clocked 20.43 seconds).
A relatively unknown 20-year-old Canadian sprinter finished second in the 100m, clocking 10.05 seconds, behind Scotland’s Wells.
Sixteen years later, the Canadian clocked 9.79 seconds to win the 100m final at the Seoul Olympics in world record time. His name was Ben Johnson, and he later was disqualified after testing positive to steroids.
But the lasting memory for me, and for many others, from Brisbane came when the great Australian sprinter, Raelene Boyle, won the 400m. It was her final race in a career in which she was most likely robbed of Olympic gold by drug cheats.
http://www.abc.net.au/queensland/stories/s1319435.htm reports: “During her athletics career she won three Olympic silver medals, seven Commonwealth gold medals and two Commonwealth silver medals.
“She was 16 years old when she was selected to go to her first Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968. At that stage Raelene was only training three times a week for 45 minutes. She was considered the laughing-stock of the team, because other athletes had trained for years! Raelene won a silver medal in Mexico.
“For the two years prior to the Munich Olympics Raelene upped her training regime, but when she arrived in Germany everyone was buzzing about the East German team. Drugs were rife during the 1972 Olympics and it is believed Renate Stecher, who beat Raelene in both the 100m and 200m, was taking steroids.
“Raelene went to Montreal in 1976 and trained solely for the 200m. The race was to be her last Olympic one. The starter called a break on her, even though the pictorial evidence declares that it was not a break. In a heart-breaking moment, Raelene broke a second time when she lost her balance and rolled off the starting blocks.”
Was it any wonder that even the most cynical of the older sports journos jumped in the air, fists pumping, as Boyle crossed the finishing line in Brisbane? It was a fitting end to an illustrious career.
And, of course, there’s technology. My Brisbane reports were written on a typewriter, then phoned back to a copy-taker at The Star.
But that was nothing compared with the obstacles facing Star photographer Warren Croser. Warren would take the shot, then get the film developed at the Games media centre. Then it was couriered by motorcycle to the Gold Coast and flown back to Lismore to be printed. Try meeting a deadline under those circumstances!
But Warren did well. He even managed to get the shot of the 200m dead-heat. Mysteriously, the roll of film vanished during processing at the media centre and Warren never got to see the picture.
These days, digital cameras, computers and the internet allow for almost instantaneous publication.
And talking of the media centre, when we arrived we were given the officials Games media kit. It came in large plastic envelope bearing the name of the media centre sponsor — none other than Rothmans, the cigarette manufacturer.
Try smoking a cigarette in a workplace these days, let alone having a cigarette manufacturer sponsoring the place.
It was great to see so many more nations competing at the 2006 Games. Most of them are now republics and the Commonwealth Games is probably their last link to colonial Britain.
But a major disappointment was that although we got to watch them in action, we weren’t given the opportunity to share their celebrations when they succeeded. Channel Nine’s coverage was lacking in this regard, focusing only on Australians — if Kenya finished first and second and an Aussie third, it was the Aussie who was interviewed.
I can only agree with ABC’s Media Watch program on this.
Yes, the Games were great — a meeting of sportsmen and women who might never make it to the biggest stage of all, the Olympics.
It’s just a shame that over-the-top patriotism marred our viewing pleasure.
