The wrought-iron silhouette statue depicting Olympic gold
medallist Jack Lovelock which was unveiled yesterday at
Crushington, the township of his birth, on the West Coast.
Photo by Alun Bollinger.
A statue of Jack Lovelock, a former University of Otago
medical student who became one of New Zealand's greatest
Olympic heroes, was unveiled yesterday at the small West Coast
township where he was born.
The wrought-iron silhouette statue depicting the Olympic gold
medal-winning runner has been mounted on a quartz rock at
Crushington, the gold-mining township near Reefton.
Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of Lovelock's birth, on
January 5, 1910.
Graham Golan, who lives at nearby Blacks Point, and who
co-ordinated the memorial project, said the statue was
helping to put Reefton and the West Coast on the tourist map.
Many people had forgotten that Lovelock, a
former Rhodes Scholar, was born on the West Coast, although
he had later studied at Timaru Boys High School and Otago
University, Mr Golan said.
The Mayor of the Buller district, Pat McManus, spoke at
yesterday's unveiling, which was attended by about 150
people.
Tourism was an increasingly important industry on the West
Coast, but more attractions, such as the statue, and the
recently redeveloped Blacks Point Museum, were needed to
encourage visitors to spend more time there, he said.
Crushington, which now has only two permanent residents, got
its name because of extensive quartz crushing which was done
there as part of gold extraction.
john.gibb@odt.co.nz
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