Arthur Parkin holds the gold medal he won as a member of the New Zealand hockey team at the Montreal Olympic Games in 1976. Photo by Peter McIntosh.

Summer training on the Dunedin hills helped Arthur Parkin win a gold medal in hockey at the Montreal Olympics in 1976.

Parkin (58) was one of the six new inductees to the University of Otago School of Physical Education's Wall of Fame on Friday night.

It was the third ceremony to induct high-achieving former students to the Wall of Fame.

The other inductees were Pat Barwick, David Billington, Sally Clark (nee Dalrymple), Roger Maro Enoka and Trevor Garrett.

Parkin's great New Zealand hockey team had been beaten 5-1 by Australia, in temperatures of 35degC at a World Cup tournament in Malaysia, the year before the 1976 Olympics.

New Zealand trainer Brian Maunsell, a lecturer at the School of Physical Education at that time, realised something extra needed to be done to prepare for the Olympics.

"The team adopted a high Lydiard-style mileage and I did my work on the Dunedin hills," Parkin recalled.

"I used to run up to Signal Hill and back before breakfast."

Parkin did a lot of running with future Olympic marathon bronze medallist Lorraine Moller, who was also a physical education student in Dunedin at that time.

The New Zealand hockey team played seven games in 10 days at the Olympics and the matches against Spain and the Netherlands went into extra time.

The extra endurance helped. Parkin enjoyed his three years as a physical education student in Dunedin from 1974 to 1976.

"I look back to my time in Dunedin as special," Parkin said.

"It is a very good place to train and the student lifestyle is not replicated anywhere else in the country.

"I did not know anyone when I came to Dunedin and when I left I had a lot of lifelong friends. It was an enriching experience for me."

Parkin recalled the welcome he received at the Dunedin airport after returning home with his gold medal.

"There was a big reception," he said.

"My flatmates and friends from Phys Ed School were there. It is surreal at the Olympics and you don't realise what you have done.

"It is only when you get home that you realise how significant it was."

Parkin competed at the 1972, 1976 and 1984 Olympics and became a prominent golfer after retiring.

He represented Auckland as an amateur from 1987 to 2000 and won the Auckland matchplay title and the Waikato strokeplay titles.

He turned professional in 2003 and played on the Australian Masters tour for two years.

He now sells synthetic turf for home putting greens and lawns.


Phys Ed School: Wall of Fame

The six new inductees are.

• Pat Barwick: Captain New Zealand women's hockey team 1971-80; coach 1987-92.

• Dr Rex Billington: Senior posts in World Health Organisation for 18 years 1981-99.

• Sally Clark (nee Dalrymple): Silver medal in equestrian at 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

• Roger Maro Enoka: Author and professor of exercise science and physiology, University of Arizona.

• Trevor Garrett: Two-term president of New Zealand Association Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

• Arthur Parkin: Hockey gold medal at 1976 Olympics in Montreal.