Pirie's Return To Britain

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28260, 24 April 1957, Page 15

Pirie's Return To Britain

(Specially written for “The Press”) J LONDON. The decision of Gordon Pirie to return to England after his stay in New Zealand is not entirely unexpected. Throughout his athletics career Pirie has always had first-class training facilities and the very best of competition and athletics have practically governed his life and his outlook. He 4s now probably at the peak of his career with four or five years of worldclass competition left and having in the past year made two world records and equalled a third, He probably realises that to stay in New Zealand would limit his progress.

M. G. Halberg and N. Scott have proved that the very best conditions are not always necessary to achieve world class results, but they have been born and bred in New Zealand and have adapted their training methods accordingly. Pine has probably progressed too far to successfully change the training technique he has been practising for more than 10 years. It is, therefore, more than should be expected that he should give up possible victories in the three or six miles events' at next year’s British Empire and Commonwealth Games at Cardiff, or in the 5000 or 10,000 metres in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.