Everything about Dick Quax totally explained
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Theodorus Jacobus Leonardus ("Dick") Quax (born
January 1,
1948 in
Alkmaar,
The Netherlands) is a New Zealand runner. Quax, along with
John Walker and
Rod Dixon, was one of New Zealand's three outstanding distance runners of the
1970s. The trio set the running tracks of Europe ablaze and were responsible for a resurgence of interest in athletics in New Zealand.
Quax emigrated with his family to New Zealand in
1954 and he grew up in
Waikato, going to school at
Hamilton Boys' High School where he played
rugby union and then discovered he'd a particular ability for distance running. He was inspired by
Peter Snell and
Murray Halberg, and remembers travelling to
Auckland to watch them race. He latched onto the
Lydiard training methods and by the time he was sixteen years old, he was running a hundred miles a week.
In 1968 he asked John Davies, a Lydiard runner, to coach him, and the two formed a bond that existed until Davies' death in
2003. Quax and Davies co-promoted and organised the international track series for a decade and put together other running events, such as business-house races. They formed a company, Athletics Marketing and Management, which Quax took over after Davies' death in 2003.
Quax came to public attention in March
1970, when he ambushed Olympic 1.500 metres champion
Kip Keino over a mile in Auckland and defeated him by 30 metres. Later that year at the
1970 British Commonwealth Games in
Edinburgh, Keino had his revenge over 1500 metres. Quax was the only athlete who stayed with Keino when he broke away. Quax was rewarded for his courage with the silver medal.
For several years he battled shin splints causing him to miss the
1972 Summer Olympics in
Munich and it wasn't until a revolutionary operation in 1975 proved successful that he was able to train and race relatively injury-free.
The 1976 Montreal Olympic 5000 metres final, which also included Dixon, was his most famous race. It turned out to be a classic and New Zealanders at home watched a dramatic last lap in which
Lasse Viren again proved himself supreme, beating Quax by one stride with Dixon just behind, but deprived of the bronze because of a desperate dive by the German,
Klaus-Peter Hildenbrand.
In 1976 Quax just missed the 5000 metres world record but the following year, at
Stockholm, Sweden, he set a new world record with a time of 13m 12.9s.
Late in his career, Quax devoted himself to the marathon, turning in a brilliant debut time of 2h 11min 13s in the big Nike marathon in
Eugene. There was no Olympics in 1980 for New Zealand athletes because of the American-led boycott, but Quax showed what might have been when he ran 2h 10min 47s at Eugene in September, 1980. It was the fastest time ever by a New Zealander.
In October
2001 Quax was elected to the
Manukau City Council from the Pakuranga ward and subsequently re-elected in
2004 to represent the new Botany-Clevedon ward after a failed bid for the Manukau mayoralty. He is also a member of the
ACT Party having stood as a list candidate in the
1999 and
2002 general elections.
On
13 October 2007 Dick Quax Lost his bid to become mayor of
Manukau to Len Brown by 14,00 Votes. During this election, Dick Complained to the electorial office over an "offensive flyer" depicting him and members of his peoples choice party as the
Thunderbirds. His complaint wasn't upheld as there was no evidence to suggest who had posted the flyers.
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