Recollections

When I attended the IOC meeting In Rome in April 1966 I met Jean-Claude Ganga who introduced me to other African members and I saw Avery Brundage the President of the IOC in the lobby of the Excelsior Hotel, I approached him and introduced myself as representing San-Roc. He brushed me off and said " I have no intention of talking to you". I thanked him and went on my way. I decided then that I would not ever talk to him.I was delighted when 2 years later he had to announce the exclusion of South Africa from the Mexico Olympics. He was green! More of this later..

Opposite the Excelsior there was a little bar, where I went for a beer and I heard some people talking Afrikaans and one of them was Fred Labuscagne of the Sunday Times in SA. I don't remember how we engaged in conversation and he asked me what I was doing in Rome. I answered that I was visiting Rome as a tourist. He was accompanied by the SA Ambassador in Italy. The next day he saw me at the Excelsior Hotel and realised I was representing San-Roc. This made headline news in SA and Dennis Brutus who had just been released from Robben Island was cheered by the Blacks as he walked in Port Elizabeth. I had been in touch with him before going to Rome as San-Roc representative.