Moscow Olympic Games 1980

 Moscow Olympic Games 1980
 Zimbabwe Women's Hockey Team

Back: Helen Volk - Pat McKillop - Elisabeth Chase

Middle: Christine Prinsloo - Sandra Chick -Linda Watson

Front: Susan Huggett - Ann Grant - Sarah English

Back: Arlene Boxhall - Gilian Cowley

Middle: Anthea Stewart - Sonia Robertson

Front: Patricia Davies - Brenda Phillips - Maureen George

Sarah English, Ann Grant (Capt), Brenda Phillips, Patricia McKillop, Sonia Robertson, Patricia Davies, Maureen George, Linda Watson, Susan Huggett, Gillian Cowley, Elisabeth Chase (Vice-capt.), Sandra Chick, Helen Volk, Christine Prinsloo, Arlene Boxhall, Anthea Stewart (Player-coach).

Officials: Miss Elizabeth Dreyer, Manageress and President of Zimbabwe Women's Hockey Association.

Secretary: Miss Audrey Palmer.

Triumph of the Zimbabwe Women's Hockey
Team as telexed from Moscow by Glen Byrom

2018:PROZIMHERALD EXBYROM:
MOSCOW, THURSDAY
FROM GLEN BYROM
GOLDGIRIS ONE...

THE CHAMPAGNE CORKS POPPED MERRILY AT THE DYNAMO STADIUM RESTAURANT THIS EVENING AS ZIMBABWE'S OVERJOYED 'GOLDEN GIRLS' OF HOCKEY CELEBRATED THEIR CROWNING AS OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS.

MOMENTS BEFORE THEY HAD PROUDLY STEPPED UP TO THE RED-CARPETED WINNERS' ROSTRUM ONE BY ONE TO RECEIVE THEIR GOLD MEDALS FROM MR. REG ALEXANDER, A KENYAN MEMBER OF THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE, WHO WAS ACCOMPANIED BY BELGIUM'S MR. RENEE FRANK, THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY FEDERATION.

TO THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE, IT WAS THE TEAM CAPTAIN, 25-YEAR-OLD SALISBURY BOOKKEEPER ANN GRANT, WHO STEPPED ON TO THE ROSTRUM TO RECEIVE THE FIRST GOLD MEDAL FOR WOMEN'S HOCKEY IN OLYMPICS HISTORY.

ONCE ALL 16 GIRLS HAD THE BEAUTIFUL GOLD MEDALS HANGING AROUND THEIR NECKS, THEY WAVED HAPPILY TO A SMALL BUT VOCIFEROUS BUNCH OF ZIMBABWE SUPPORTERS IN THE STANDS.

DRESSED IN THEIR BLUE SKIRTS AND BRIGHT BLUE ZIMBABWE OLYMPIC BLAZERS, THEY HAD MARCHED ON TO THE FIELD - WHERE HOURS EARLIER THEY HAD BEATEN AUSTRIA 4-1, TO WIN THE GOLD - TO THE FANFARE OF TRUMPETS FROM A LARGE SOVIET MILITARY BAND. THE EMOTION-CHARGED CEREMONY WAS BEAMED TO MILLIONS OF TELEVISION VIEWERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD BY SATELLITE. AND SO, ON THIS MOMENTOUS DAY IN THE HISTORY OF ZIMBABWE SPORT, THE COUNTRY WAS FIRMLY PLACED ON THE WORLD SPORTING MAP.

2030 i PROZIMHERALD EXBYROM :
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GOLDGIRLS TWO...

ONCE THE SILVER MEDALS HAD BEEN PRESENTED TO CZECHOSLOVAK IA
AND THE BRONZE MEDALS TO THE SOVIET UNION THERE WAS A POIGNANT AND UNFORGETTABLE MOMENT WHEN, TO THE STRAINS OF THE HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL OLYMPIC HYMN, DEDICATED TO PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP AMONG SPORTSMEN OF THE WORLD, THE ZIMBABWE FLAG WAS HOISTED WHILE THE 8,000 PEOPLE IN THE STADIUM STOOD RIGIDLY TO ATTENTION IN
SALUTE.

THE IMPRESSIVE AND MOVING CEREMONY TOOK 40 MINUTES AND ENDED WITH THE ZIMBABWE TEAM LEADING THE OTHER MEDAL-WINNING NATIONS IN A WALKING LAP OF HONOUR.

THEY RECEIVED A TUMULTUOUS RECEPTION AND, TEARS STREAMING FROM MANY EYES, ALL RETURNED THE WAVES OF THE CROWD.

THE TENSION SOON SNAPPED IN THE HOCKEY RESTAURANT, WHERE MR. FRANK LINCOLN, THE PRESIDENT OF THE ZIMBABWE OLYMPIC COMMITTEE, PRESENTED ROSES TO EACH OF THE PLAYERS AND OFFICIALS AND TOASTED THE TEAM WITH SOVIET CHAMPAGNE.

IT WAS A SCENE OF PURE DELIGHT AS THE GIRLS CHATTED EXCITEDLY, SANG LOUDLY AND EVEN STRUCK UP SOME IMPROMPTU DANCING. THEY SIGNED AUTOGRAPHS, SWAPPED BADGES AND OH-SO-PROUDLY WORE THEIR GOLD MEDALS.

THE COMPLIMENTS FLEW THICK AND FAST FROM REPRESENTATIVES OF THE F.I.H. AND FROM MANY OF THE NATIONS. THE RUSSIAN COACH, A MAN, DISHED OUT SOVIET HOCKEY BADGES AND WAS GIVEN A ZIMBABWE HOCKEY TIE IN RETURN.

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SOLDGIRLS THREE...

PROPOSING A TOAST TO ZIMBABWE, AND SPEAKING THROUGH AN INTERPRETER HE SAID: "WE ARE GLAD FOR YOU AND FOR YOUR COUNTRY THAT YOU HAVE WON THE HONOURED OLYMPIC GOLD. WE LIKE YOU AS PEOPLE AND WE LIKE YOU AS SPORTSMEN. WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR FRIENDSHIP AND WE ARE VERY HAPPY YOU HAVE MET OUR HOCKEY GIRLS ON THE FIELD."

ANN GRANT RESPONDED TO THE TOAST AND THE ZIMBABWEANS GAVE THE SOVIETS A ROUSING THREE CHEERS.

ZIMBABWE ENDED THE TOURNAMENT AS THE ONLY UNBEATEN TEAM, GAINING EIGHT POINTS FROM THREE WINS AND TWO DRAWS.

AND BLUE WAS THEIR LUCKY COLOUR. COACH ANTHEA STEWART CONFIDED IN ME BEFORE THE GAME: "WHEN WE'VE WORN OUR BLUE OUTFITS WE'VE WON BOTH GAMES, BUT WHEN WE WORE OUR GREEN ONLY DREW. WE'RE WEARING BLUE TODAY AND JU-ST HOPE OUR LUCKY TREND CONTINUES."

IT DID AND ZIMBABWE, PLAYING SUPERBLY CONFIDENT AND SKILFUL HOCKEY IN THE SECOND HALF, FINISHED WITH A 4-1 WIN AGAINST AUSTRIA THAT PUT THEM A POINT CLEAR OF CZECHOSLOVAK IA AND TWO POINTS AHEAD OF THE RUSSIANS, WHO BEAT INDIA 3-1 IN THE
 FINAL GAME.

ZIMBABWE'S 13 GOALS IN THE FIVE GAMES WERE TWO MORE THAN NEXT BEST, RUSSIA, WHILE THEY CONCEDED FEWER GOALS (FOUR) THAN ANY TEAM - A TRIBUTE TO THE OUTSTANDING DEFENDERS ANN GRANT AND MAUREEN GEORGE AND SOME FINE SAVES UNDER PRESSURE- BY GOALKEEPER SARAH ENGLISH.

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GOLDGIRLS FOUR

IN ATTACK, DIMINUTIVE PAT MCKILLOP OF BULAWAYO STOLE THE OLYMPIC SHOW WITH SIX GOALS, JOINT TOP FOR THE TOURNAMENT WITH THE SOVIET UNION'S NATELLA KARASNIKOVA.

THE 23-YEAR-OLD MRS. MCKILLOP, A FORMER EVELINE SCHOOLGIRL, WHO IS SISTER OF NATIONAL MEN'S PLAYER DEREK FRASER, GAINED THE DISTINCTION IN MOSCOW OF SCORING THE FIRST GOAL IN OLYMPICHISTORY FOR WOMEN'S HOCKEY WHILE TODAY SHE COOLLY SLAMMED IN A SHORT CORNER THAT PUT ZIMBABWE 2-1 UP AND CLINCHED THE GOLD MEDAL.

ELIZABETH CHASE, DESPITE THE HANDICAP OF A BADLY INJURED KNEE THAT CUT HER EFFECTIVENESS MARKEDLY, SCORED THREE GOALS FOR A JOINT FIFTH RANKING AT THE GAMES ALONG WITH CZECH JIRINA CERMAKOVA.

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GLEN BYROM
ZIMGOLD ONE...

ZIMBABWE HAVE STRUCK GOLD IN MOSCOW, THAT WAS THE SENSATIONAL NEWS FLASHED TO MILLIONS OF PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TODAY AFTER ZIMBABWE BEAT AUSTRIA 4-1 TO WIN THE FIRST-EVER OLYMPIC WOMEN'S HOCKEY TOURNAMENT.

AFTER A TENSE AND EVEN FIRST HALF, WHEN THE SCORES WERE LOCKED AT 1-1, ZIMBABWE'S PLAY FLOURISHED IN THE SECOND HALF AT THE DYNAMO STADIUM AS ANN GRANT'S ELATED TEAM SIMPLY OVERWHELMED THE AUSTRIANS.

THERE WERE INCREDIBLE SCENES OF UNRESTRAINED JOY AS THE ZIMBABWEANS, TEARS STREAMING FROM THEIR EYES, DANCED ABOUT THE FIELD HUGGING AND KISSING EACH OTHER.

ZIMBABWE TEAM OFFICIALS, MARK MANOLIOS AND ERIC BARBOUR HAD SIX BOTTLES OF RUSSIAN CHAMPAGNE ON HAND AND THEY WERE CRACKED OPEN ON THE FIELD AS THE PLAYERS CELEBRATED THIS GLORIOUS MOMENT FOR ZIMBABWE.

IT WAS A HISTORY-MAKING EFFORT IN MANY WAYS, THIS WAS ZIMBABWE'S FIRST EVER OLYMPIC MEDAL OF ANY DESCRIPTION - PREVIOUSLY THE COUNTRY TOOK PART IN THE OLYMPIADS OF ROME (1960) AND TOKYO (1964) AS RHODESIA, WHEN THE MOST NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT WAS THE LATE DAVID BUTLER'S FOURTH PLACE IN THE FLYING DUTCHMAN YACHTING CLASS
 IN 1960.

BUT IT IS AS AFRICA'S NEWEST INDEPENDENT NATION THAT ZIMBABWE HAVE TODAY BEC0ME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLISTS. IT IS NO EXAGGERATION TO SAY THAT THE PLAYERS HAVE IMMORTALISED THEMSELVES, FOR THIS WAS THE FIRST WOMEN'S HOCKEY TOURNAMENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES AND THEY ARE THE FIRST CHAMPIONS.

1600 : PROZIMHERALD EXBYROM
MOSCOW, THURSDAY
FROM GLEN BYROM
ZIMGOLD TWO...

ZIMBABWE HAD ALREADY HAD THE HONOUR OF PLAYING THE VERY FIRST OLYMPIC MATCH, WHICH THEY WON 4-0 AGAINST POLAND. AND IT WAS BULAWAYO'S PAT MCKILLOP WHO ETCHED HER NAME IN HISTORY BY SCORING THE FIRST OLYMPIC GOAL.

WHEN THE HOOTER SOUNDED FOR FULL TIME AND THE GOLD WAS THEIRS, THE ZIMBABWEANS INSTINCTIVELY HOISTED THEIR CAPTAIN ANN GRANT SHOULDER-HIGH AND CARRIED HER OFF THE FIELD.

THEY SANG AS THEY SWIGGED CHAMPAGNE AND WHEN A BBC TELEVISION CREW INTERVIEWED THEM FIVE MINUTES AFTER THEIR TRIUMPH, THEY JOYFULLY SHOUTED "ZIMBABWE" AS THEY FLAPPED THEIR ARMS ROOSTER- STYLE - A SALUTE TO PRIME MINISTER MR. ROBERT MUGABE, WHO NOT ONLY BACKED ZIMBABWE'S PARTICIPATION IN THESE MOSCOW GAMES BUT PERSONALLY TOLD THE TEAM AT AN EVE-OF-DEPARTURE COCKTAIL PARTY: "I FEEL SURE YOU WILL BRING BACK A GOLD MEDAL FOR ZIMBABWE."

IT IS ONLY THE SECOND GOLD MEDAL WON BY SPORTSMEN FROM THE AFRICAN CONTINENT HERE, FOLLOWING ETHIOPIA'S MIRUTS YIFTER'S SUCCESS IN THE 10 000 METRES, AND THE ZIMBABWEANS WILL HAVE 16 GOLD MEDALS TO TAKE HOME - ONE FOR EVERY REGISTERED PLAYER, AND THAT INCLUDES COACH ANTHEA STEWART, WHO PLAYED HALF THE MATCH AGAINST INDIA ON WEDNESDAY. THE ONLY PLAYER WHO DID NOT GET ON TO THE FIELD WAS RESERVE GOALKEEPER ARLENE BOXHALL, BUT SHE WILL ALSO SHARE IN THIS TRIUMPH AND TAKE HOME A GOLD MEDAL.

2115: PROZIMHERALD EXBYROM:
MOSCOW, THURSDAY
FROM GLEN BYROM
MOSCWIN ONE...

THE 'GOLDEN' GOAL CAME EXACTLY 15 MINUTES INTO THE SECOND HALF. THAT WAS THE MOMENT, ON A GLORIOUS SUMMER'S MORNING IN MOSCOW, THAT BULAWAYO'S PATRICIA MCKILLOP STROKED A SHORT CORNER WITH POWER AND PRECISION TO DEFLECT OFF AN OPPONENT'S STICK AND FLY HIGH INTO THE NET TO GIVE ZIMBABWE A 2-1 LEAD OVER AUSTRIA.

IT WAS ALSO THE MOMENT TO PUT NEW FIRE AND LIFE INTO THE ZIMBABWE GIRLS AND THEREAFTER THEY SIMPLY OVERRAN AUSTRIA WITH A SPLENDID DISPLAY OF FAST, ATTACKING HOCKEY TO FINALLY WIN 4-1 AND BECOME THE FIRST GOLD MEDAL WINNERS FOR WOMEN'S HOCKEY.

URGED ON BY FREQUENT SHOUTS OF "PAMBERE ZIMBABWE" FROM A SMALL BUT ENTHUSIASTIC BAND OF FELLOW OLYMPIANS, THE ZIMBABWEANS GREW IN STATURE AND TOOK COMMAND TO SUCH A DEGREE THAT THEY FORCED EIGHT SHORT CORNERS AND FOUR LONG CORNERS IN THE SECOND HALF TO THE SINGLE LONG CORNER BY AUSTRIA.

THIS SUPREMACY FOLLOWED A TENSE AND EVENLY BALANCED FIRST HALF WHEN THE KEYED-UP ZIMBABWE PLAYERS SUFFERED BADLY FROM NERVES.

AUSTRIA'S FRIEDERIKE STERN WAS CLEAR IN THE CIRCLE AFTER 15 MINUTES, BUT SHOT JUST WIDE, WHILE ZIMBABWE WERE AWARDED FIVE SHORT CORNERS AND COULD NOT CONTROL ANY.

2123: PROZIMHERALD EXBYROM:
 MO&OW, THURSDAY
 MOSCWIN TWO....

THEN, AFTER 28 MINUTES, THE DEADLOCK WAS BROKEN WHEN LEFT-WING SANDY CHICK STOPPED A LONG CORNER, HIT CLEANLY, AND CONTROLLED HER SHOT BEAUTIFULLY TO GIVE ZIMBABWE A 1-0 LEAD.

BUT THIS LIVED FOR ONLY TWO MINUTES. ANDREA PORSCH PUT IN A SPIRITED RUN, HER SHOT BEING WELL SAVED BY ENGLISH. BUT THE GOALKEEPER DID NOT CLEAR HARD ENOUGH AND IN THE SCRAMBLE FOR THE BALL A FEW METRES FROM THE GOAL AUSTRIA WERE AWARDED A PENALTY STROKE. BRIGITTEKINDLER FLICKED IT HIGH INTO THE LEFT CORNER OF THE NET AND IT WAS 1-1 TO HAVE THE AUSTRIANS IN THE CROWD SINGING HAPPILY.

CHRISTINE PRINSLOO SUBSTITUTED FOR BRENDA PHILLIPS IN THE SECOND PERIOD AS ZIMBABWE IMMEDIATELY TOOK COMMAND TO KEEP THE AUSTRIAN GOAL UNDER SIEGE, ESPECIALLY TOWARDS THE END, WITH THE GOLD MEDAL SAFE, WITH ZIMBABWE ABANDONING THEIR DEFENSIVE THREE-FORWARDS AND PUSHING UP A FRONT FIVE, THE BALL BEGAN TO FLOW AND THERE WERE SEVERAL DELIGHTFUL INTER-PASSING MOVEMENTS THAT SHOWED THESE GIRLS HAVE THE SKILLS.

MCKILLOP'S GOAL PROVIDED THE SPARK FOR THIS CHANGE OF TACTICS AND IT WAS GILL COWLEY WHO MADE IT 3-1 AFTER 25 MINUTES. FROM A FREE HIT JUST OUTSIDE THE CIRCLE, CHICK'S ACUTE ANGLED SHOT WAS BLOCKED 3UT COWLEY WAS FOLLOWING UP WELL TO SCORE.

THE GOLD MEDAL WAS NOW IN THEIR HANDS AND THE ZIMBABWEANS JUST GOT BETTER AND BETTER, THEIR SPIRITS LIFTED AND NO THOUGHT WAS GIVEN TO THEIR TIREDNESS.

2127: PROZIMHERALD EXBYROM:
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MOSCWIN THREE LAST.

IT WAS A MAGNIFICENT THROUGH PASS BY LIZ CHASE THAT SENT PAT MCKILLOP SCUTTLING OFF TO COMPLETE HER OLYMPIC GLORY BY CRUNCHING IN ONE OF THE BEST FIELD GOALS OF THE TOURNAMENT, JUST SIX MINUTES FROM THE HOOTER.

THE GOLD ASSURED, THE SMALL SECTION OF ZIMBABWE SUPPORTERS- BURST FORTH WITH A TYPICALLY AFRICAN SONG "ZULU WARRIOR" TO USHER IN MEMORABLE TRIUMPH FOR THE CONTINENT'S NEWEST- AND TONIGHT, PROUDEST NATION.

End

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