It was amongst the pile, squeezed down the side with the race numbers from the 1980 Milk Race and the 1976 Scottish Milk Race. Bursting at the seams, the cardboard Chiquita banana box overflowed with memories from another time. If a picture can tell a thousand words, then this stage winner’s cap from the 1984 Coors Classic could tell you so much more.
“We were sitting around the dinner table that night,” remembers Jack. “We’d all heard about Afghanistan, but we didn’t really know too much about the politics.”
Jack Swart had made the selection to represent New Zealand at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, the core of the road squad riding the Milk Race as a preparation event, just as many of the other amateurs were doing. The two-week British stage race was one of the premier races for amateurs at that time, and with previous winners going on to win Olympic gold (Kuiper won both the Milk Race and Olympics in ’72, Johansson the Milk Race in ’75 then the Olympics in ‘76) it was also considered the perfect opportunity to size up your Olympic opponents.
The evening after a team time trial stage New Zealand coach Ron Cheatley received a phone call in their Llandudno hotel from the Secretary of the New Zealand Amateur Cycling Association. “They were handing on a message from Muldoon’s office [The NZ Prime Minister at that time],” remembers Cheatley. “They told us that New Zealand was withdrawing from the Games and we were expected to come home.”
In protest at the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan the United States had announced they would boycott the Moscow Olympic Games. New Zealand was one of over sixty countries which followed suit. Gutted, Jack Swart would now have to wait another four years for his chance to ride in the Olympics.
From Good Stock
This story is from the Issue 22 edition of Conquista - The Cycling Quarterly.
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This story is from the Issue 22 edition of Conquista - The Cycling Quarterly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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