Lovelock honoured 100 years on, at birthplace

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