TWO years ago Steve Ovett, the former Olympic 800 metres champion,
berated the British Athletic Federation. They were reluctant to put
their financial muscle behind the Scottish appeal to assist the family
of former Olympic sprinter Cameron Sharp, who had suffered serious head
injuries and major orthopaedic damage in a traffic accident.
''We could be setting a precedent. What would we do if this were to
happen again?'' was the response, attempting to justify doing nothing.
Ovett exploded: ''God forbid, but if it happens again, we'll just have
to raise whatever money is needed. We'll do the same thing again.''
His outburst was partly instrumental in changing the official view,
and BAF eventually contributed generously to the Scottish athletics
appeal which safeguarded the Sharp family home.
It was a typical response from an athlete who was largely
misunderstood throughout his competitive career, an essentially private
man who affected not to care what people thought of him, least of all
the media; a man who would jeopardise his own public image by shunning
press interviews, yet who would then secretly visit kids in hospital and
even leave his medals with them. The kids would hug them, like some
talisman which might confer healing properties.
Sport is an egocentric trade, and only boxers, perhaps, can match
track and field athletes in their arrogance. Humility and concern for
others are generally not among their primary qualities.
But in Ovett there is a man with a social conscience, prepared to
number his blessings, and he was counting them this week. For now he is
the victim of an accident, one in which he flirted with death, suffering
injuries which threaten his new sporting career.
Mercifully Ovett's mental faculties are completely unaffected, as is
his ability to earn a living. So there is no threat of a building
society repossessing his picturesque stately home, near Cummertrees, by
the Solway. But the legs which carried Ovett to four world records (and
equalled another) and to Olympic and Commonwealth gold, are savagely
damaged.
There is no talisman for Ovett to hug now, though laughter, not
self-pity, prevailed as we spoke this week. ''I know I am lucky to be
alive,'' he said, ''and I cannot help thinking I might have been like
Cameron.''
Ovett, who has recently begun to make a successful second sports
career in duathlons -- running and cycling -- was on a bicycle training
session with nine clubmates in a Carlisle industrial estate. They had
gone there because it had good street-lighting, unlike the rural byways
around his home.
A car materialised from a side street under his front wheel. Ovett,
travelling at nearly 30mph, had not even time to blink. He struck the
car near its front wheel, and catapulted from the saddle, over the
bonnet, ending some 20 yards away.
Two other bikes struck the car, both riders suffering injuries, but
Ovett, in safety helmet and reflective gear, lay terrifyingly still on
the road under the lights. His colleagues thought he was dead.
Both legs had smashed into the car as Ovett came out of the saddle.
The right required 20 stitches, but his left knee impacted against the
car.
Initial examinations suggest both anterior and posterior cruciate
ligaments may be severed, possibly the medial as well. He also broke two
toes. The leg is in plaster, and it is too early fully to assess the
extent of tendon and ligament damage.
''If I wasn't so bloody competitive, even on a bike, it would not have
been me at the front,'' said Ovett with a grin. ''Old habits die hard.''
He acknowledges he has been lucky: ''I went over the bonnet. A
fraction later, and I would have hit the middle of the car, and my head
and torso would have slammed into it.
''But I know the knee is going to require micro-surgery. It is a
restructuring job. So far the best prognosis is that I should be able to
walk, probably with a limp. But I am an optimist.''
Ovett will not even consider going to California, to the surgeon who
operated on Morton sweeper Jim Hunter and Rangers midfielder Ian
Durrant. ''That's not an option. I would prefer treatment here in
Scotland.''
His wife, Rachel, expects their third child in January, and Steve
wishes to be within reach of home, at Kinmount.
Ovett first gained a love of cycling in 1981. Exactly 12 years ago
this month, he tore ligaments and seriously damaged muscles around his
right knee when he ran at speed into church railings near his then home
in Brighton. ''Now I'll be perfectly balanced,'' he laughed.
''Ironically, if it had not been for that injury, I probably would not
be into cycling. I really enjoy duathlons, and the older you get, the
more precious the years left to you in sport become.''
Typically, he is ignoring crutches, hopping round their baronial pile
on his good leg, the scars still raw. Defiantly, he says: ''You've got
to accept life's knocks -- but I certainly don't see my sporting career
as being over.''
* THE Scottish Sports Council launches one of its most ambitious
projects on Monday -- the three-day Sport and Leisure Conference 1993,
at the Moat International Hotel and Scottish Exhibition Centre.
Conference attendance is already up on the 300 who attended the
inaugural event two years ago.
Many of Scotland's leading sports personalities, and UK international
team managers, will address leaders of the leisure industry. It is still
possible to register. The conference, including social events costs
#300. But entry to individual sessions is available on the day at #70,
(#25 for students) and an evening session for teachers at #10. Details
are available from the council (031 317 7200).
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