University Daily Kansan, April 20, 1983
Page 7
Festive crowd welcomes Soviet athletes
By ANDREW HARTLEY
Staff Reporter
Thirty youngsters danced to the tunes of a five-piece Dixieland band in the driveway outside the Lawrence Holiday Inn Holidome yesterday while waiting to greet the Soviet delegation of athletes.
The Campus Coalition for Peace and Justice unfurled a banner that proclaimed in Russian, "Welcome Athletes to the Kansas Belles this weekend."
Two women handed out colorful Athletes United for Peace buttons to the other 100 onlookers who lined the sidewalk at 4:30 p.m. to see a the beginning of a new chapter of KU history.
THEN, AT 5 P.M., two buses pulled up to the stop in front of the
Holidome. The band got louder and the crowd quieter.
crowd queen.
After the buses pulled in front of the crowd, several children who had met the athletes at the Kansas City International Airport emerged from the buses. Then came the delegates, all dressed in navy blue sport coats and gray slacks.
Jo Jo White, assistant basketball coach, Nancy Shontz, vice mayor, and Bob Timmons, head track coach, were among the dignitaries who welcomed the group.
As the athletes and coaches walked slowly into the Holidome lobby, the onlookers strolled behind them, some craning their necks to get a glimpse.
insure the lobby, the delegates lined the wall in back of a lectern; the camera lights showed the drawn faces and weavers, veiwry from their long journey.
journey. MARK SCOTT, DIRECTOR OF AUP.
who masterminded the Soviets journey to the Relies, welcomed the group.
Bob Swan, founder of AUP, said, "On behalf of Athletes United for Peace, I welcome you to Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A. Our people are honored that you have traveled halfway around the world solely to be with us this weekend to participate in our time-honored Kansas Relays."
Scott translated the messages into Russian.
"Over the decades, America's greatest athletes have performed in our Relays, and it is fitting that you have chosen such an extraordinary group of world-class performers for your visit." Swan said. "We look forward to spirited, peaceful competition, which will uplift us all."
"We are proud to have you with us this week in Lawrence, Kansas, one of the most beautiful and friendly university communities in the United States.
Sandi Moles/Special to the Kansan
Bearing bouquets of sunflowers and wheat, Lawreace schoolchildren await the arrival of the Soviet athletes delegation at Kansas City International Airport.
Our citizens of all ages will benefit from learning to know you and, through you, your great nation.
"WE WELCOME YOU as a community dedicated to better understanding and world peace through international communications and exchange."
Commissioner Shontz welcomed the athletes on behalf of Lawrence and read a resolution drafted by the members of the Lawrence City Commission.
"Be it resolved, that the Lawrence City Commission on behalf of its citizens, declares the week of April 18th to 25th, a period that coincides with the Soviet visit to our city, as 'Soviet American Week of Understanding.'"
"All of us here are indebted to Athletes United for Peace for extending to you the invitation to our meet."
Coach Timmons said, "We welcome our friends from the Soviet Union and celebrate this week of peace through sport.
Elena Petushkova, delegation leader, thanked the speakers for the welcome and presented an art display and some films of Soviet track meets as a gift to the city.
"WE ARE HIGHLY appreciative of the warm welcome here in Kansas," she said in English. "We are really most grateful for the invitation and for peace."
Petushkova, also the deputy chairman of the National Organizing Committee for the 1980 Olympic Games, said, "One of your presidents, John F. Kennedy, can do for you; what your coach can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
"The best thing we can do for our countries is to prevent world war and promote friendship."
The schedule for the athletes this week includes a country hoedown tonight, a breakfast with the governor and a tour of the KU Museum of Natural History tomorrow, a pep rally at Lawrence High School, a tour of Hallmark Cards Inc. on Friday and the Relays on Saturday.
Jim Denney, KU director of police, would not comment on security efforts surrounding the Soviet visit because he could jeopardize those efforts, he said.
Two members of the Soviet delegation to the Kansas Relays will miss scheduled social events both today and tomorrow to be able to compete in the Jim Bausch Decathlon.
Sovietis Grigoryy Degtyarev and Alexander Nevsky are two of the 14 athletes who will compete in the event. Degtyarev was ranked fifth in the world last year. Both he and Newsky have received more than 8,000 points in the event.
Competing against the Soviets will be two Jayhawks, Owen Buckley and Jeff Jaqua, the second and third best
decathetles, respectively, in KU history.
Today's events will begin at 10:30 a.m. in Memorial Stadium and will include the 100-meter dash, long jump, hurdles and 400-meter dash. Admission is free.
Tomorrow's events will also begin at 10:30 and will include the 110-meter hurdles, discus throw, javelin throw and 1,500-meter run.
Relay events to begin today
Sandi Moles/Special to the Kansas
Soviet teammate Janis Bojars, who placed first in the shotput at the 1983 European Championship, carries a bouquet of sunflowers and wheat given to him by Lawrence schoolchildren.
The women's heptathalon will also be today and tomorrow. There are no entries from the Soviet delegation or the University of Kansas. Ten will participate in the contest.