Capturing Yvette Williams’ famous kick
Olympics
In an exclusive excerpt from Angela Walker’s book Ideals Are Like Stars: The Dame, Yvette Williams’ story is a year away from the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, and Williams reveals her innovative and demanding training program, including a flight from the sand dune of St Clair.
Before she went to bed on Thursday, July 19, 1951, Yvette got up to sit in bed with her diary balanced on her lap. As usual, the day was full and rewarding. Between coming home from work and two hours of winter training, Yvette had finished the shirt and hat she had knitted for her father and written a couple of letters. Now that he was recording the day’s events, he noticed the date and took his blue pen. “Today is the year when the Olympics open in Helsinki,” he wrote. “So I’m just wondering if I’m there. Either that or doing my homework I guess.
He wasn’t the only one wondering if he would be elected to the New Zealand Olympic team, as sports news was considering candidates for the 1952 Games. The question was also how the team would travel to Finland, Iltatähti suggested that the next New Zealand Olympic team should be the first to benefit from air travel. The newspaper understood how expensive this would be and suggested the creation of premium sports brands. Examples from other countries that had funded their Olympic teams in this way were given, as well as a possible layout for the stamps in which Yvette throws a spear. In the following days, letters were published to the journalist, largely in support of the idea.
Bellwoods was asked for his opinion on Yvette’s preparations, and their extensive European experience and first-hand knowledge of Helsinki’s environment and track conditions was acknowledged. “Every effort is made to ensure that Miss Williams leaves New Zealand physically and mentally fully prepared to do justice to the important role she will certainly be asked to do,” one article declared. “If the New Zealand team decides to fly about three weeks before the games to allow two weeks for the final sharpening, there will be no serious difficulty in Miss Williams’ preparation schedule.”
A series of editorials and articles questioned the strict standards used by Olympic voters after a member of the Olympic Committee said, “Only the best athletes in New Zealand, and even then only those who have a chance to win, will be sent to the Helsinki Olympics”; moreover, there was no need to raise money by issuing stamps because so few New Zealand competitors were likely to be selected. Another article responded by arguing that the Olympic body had a “cold water” policy and should not throw a “wet blanket on amateur sports,” adding, “Why not send the largest possible team to Helsinki and reap the benefits of the British Empire Games in Vancouver. The debate continued.” however, there seemed to be a consensus: Yvette Williams was, as one title shouted, “a sure thing for the Olympics.”
But nothing was certain for Yvette. He had seen how few New Zealand athletes had been selected for the 1948 Olympic team, only three for athletics and all men. Only seven women had ever been selected to the New Zealand Olympic teams: five swimmers – Violet Walrond, Gwitha Shand, Ena Stockley, Kathleen Miller and Ngaire Lane; and two athletes – Norma Wilson and Thelma Kench. Yvette cut out all the newspapers that appeared in the upcoming Olympics and looked for clues to her fate, even though the voter said the selection criteria would not be made public.
Ms. Bellwood’s year-long recovery at the hospital continued, but that no longer prevented her from participating in Yvette’s athletics schedule. He wrote Yvette’s exercise programs from his hospital bed, which included completing each exercise in miniature. Yvette visited her regularly to collect her latest program. He often met Mrs. Bellwood while embroidering or crossword puzzles to spend time. During one visit, Ms. Bellwood came up with the idea of having a professional photographer capture a picture of Yvette’s training schedule. Yvette spent the next few weeks photographing with renowned local photographer Edward Arthur Phillips.
The first took place on the coldest Monday night of the year.
On Sunday, the weather improved considerably. When Yvette met Mr. Bellwood at 10 a.m., early in the morning the frost had melted and the sky was clear. The beach was Yvette’s favorite training place. He never cared about him getting out of bed for Sunday beach workouts, even though he was usually sleepless after going out on a Saturday night.
Mr. Phillips arrived armed with his camera and tripod. He explained that he wanted to photograph him jumping down the sand hills, showcasing his characteristic draw. Mr Bellwood, with his hands in his pockets wrapped in a long cardigan, stood at the bottom of the dune, while Yvette in training pants and a short-sleeved top waited high for the Photographer’s mark. He pointed his lens in the direction of the St Clair headland and nodded to Yvette. He rushed towards the tide and jumped up and out of the top of the dune. Click. Mr. Phillips captured him perfectly, at the top of his jump, right leg outstretched forward, left leg pushed back, arms beautifully waving above his head, Mr. Bellwood throwing an appreciative gaze, all framed on a long sandy beach. Here was Yvette in the middle of the flight, an unbridled pleasure from the outdoors, a young woman full of courage and ambition to envision what the future will bring when it comes. Mr. Phillips had taken an iconic photo of the treasure.
The next evening, he arrived at Yvette’s home to take more photos of his training program. He started with pictures in which he threw a puck into his training net in the backyard. His father had recently built a throwing circle with a net and a chute to catch the puck. As the javelin throw had begun to hurt his back and twitch his elbow, Yvette was now more focused on puck throwing. He continued to complete Mrs. Bellwood’s training list. Mr. Phillips captured him with his back lying on his legs, lifting the ball of medicine locked between his ankles. After completing the series, Mr. Phillips wanted to know what he usually did after the workout.
Winnie pushed her head into the room. “She always sews.”
Yvette agreed to sit bent over her sewing machine with her hair behind her ears. He masterfully guided the lemon sucker dress he had made under the needle. Click.
Later that week, more pictures were taken at the winter training school: Yvette performing body swings, Yvette using hanging ropes. Mr. Phillips even participated in his next badminton tournament. It was a winter sport with which he had replaced basketball to reduce the risk of injury during the Olympics. Mr. Phillips grabbed him ready to hit the badminton, the racket outstretched.
The collection of photographs soon appeared in The New Zealand Sportsman. On its cover was an eye-catching image of Yvette jumping out of the sand hills. “Monday through Friday – A Peek into Yvette Williams’ Diverse Workout Schedule,” the article inside titled. Yvette’s typical winter training program was broken down alongside a series of pictures: badminton on Monday, resistance training at home on Tuesday with sandbags and medicine ball, winter training on Wednesday and Thursday, a holiday on Friday, puck training in the backyard on Saturday, beach training. In addition, Yvette walked to and from work every day, rode a bike to workouts, and squeezed Mrs. Bellwood’s 30-minute daily program into her relentless schedule. Bellwoods ordered such variation for Yvette, the article explained, “to alleviate monotony, maintain interest, and bring him to physical perfection.”
In the small time Mr. Bellwood had – coaching, caring for his two toddlers, and visiting his wife in the hospital – he had begun researching and writing articles for sports magazines to earn a living. During his research, he often came across innovative ideas and breakthroughs in the field of sports science. One day he called Yvette to tell him about an article in the latest English athletics magazine praising the virtues of rest and sleep. Ten hours a night, according to the article, was recommended. Mr. Bellwood told Yvette that he would have had to be in bed every night by nine o’clock from now on, and asked his parents to force it into effect. Yvette was a night owl by nature, and she was often awake late. He coped well with lack of sleep and did not expect to get less than eight hours. He regularly prioritized his social life over going to bed early. It was hard to sleep more at the expense of having fun, but at least he decided to try.
One of the topics Mr. Bellwood wrote that year was an innovative training method he developed himself. His idea had arisen from a problem: Yvette’s jumping style had evolved to the point where the extra goods he had achieved had now leveled off. In essence, adapting his technique further was fruitless. Mr Bellwood considered that further development of the consequences was only possible if he could increase his pace. He knew that European runners sometimes trained at slightly higher speeds than they competed instead of mixing at a pace that did not resemble the pace they were aiming for. Mr. Bellwood wanted to apply the same principle to sprinting, but the question was how; the sprinter was already running empty. If he got Yvette in any way to practice faster sprints, he was sure his body would adapt and immerse himself in the mental and physical wiring at a higher speed.
That’s when he ran into the idea of a downhill sprint. He immediately replaced his usual training sprint fields with 50-yard sprints that dropped a slight incline. The grassy embankment on the north slope of Calé provided an ideal slope. Mr Bellwood’s hint turned out to be correct: it didn’t take long for Yvette to be able to sprint up to speed faster, and his jumping distances began to grow again. Now in sprint races, he sometimes even beat national champion Shirley Hardman.
Mr. Bellwood had dreamed of a sprint training loophole that Yvette could take advantage of. His approach was not undisputed, other coaches disputed his method, but Mr Bellwood was frightening. The results he achieved with Yvette spoke for themselves.
* Ideals are like Stars: The Dame Yvette Williams Story Author Angela Walker, published by Bateman Books, RRP 39.99. Available at all good bookstores.
LockerRoom editor Suzanne McFadden discusses Angela Walker’s experience with writing the book in a virtual publication on Facebook on Thursday at 7.30pm.