Calvin Smith Heads List of 2,000 Athletes in Melbourne Games

Calvin Smith, the fastest man in the world, will be among the more than 2,000 athletes from 24 countries competing in the inaugural Australia Games to be held in Melbourne from Jan. 26 to Feb. 3. Some of the world’s best athletes, including those from the Soviet and East bloc countries which boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics, will participate. In all, athletes will compete in 21 sports including track and field, swimming, weightlifting, gymnastics, hockey, boxing , cycling, basketball, diving, water polo, lawn bowls and surf life-saving. Also scheduled are judo, badminton, volleyball, softball, wrestling, squash, shooting and trampolining. For the first time in an Australian major sports festival there will also be events for disabled athletes. Along with Smith of the United States, who will compete in the 100 and 200 meter dashes, two of the strongest men in the world, Soviet weightlifters Anatoli Pisarenko and Alesandra Gunyashev, will also participate.. At least three Olympic gold medalists will compete in the cycling events. American medal winners, Steve Hegg and Mike Gorski will take on 19 Australians, including Olympic gold medalist Dean Woods. The bulk of the track and field competition will be an under-20 meet between England, New Zealand and Australia. But as well as Smith, the open section has attracted several outstanding athletes, including pole-vaulters Larry Jessee from the U.S. and Wladislaw Kozakiewicz of Poland. British cross-country star, Tim Hutchings has also confirmed his appearance as has high-jumper Jacek Wzola of Poland. In the diving events top Americans Michelle Mitchell, silver medal winner at Los Angeles, and bronze medal winner Ron Marriott are competing against a top team of Chinese men and women. China is also sending a team for the water polo event. The Australian games are the biggest sporting event to be held in Melbourne since 1956. The Australian Federal Minister of Sport, John Brown, announced Tuesday thatAmerican television network, PBS had contracted to take one hour’s coverage of the Games daily and would distribute the footage to 308 American television stations across the U.S.