Running gag

This is a stretch, so bear with us. Visiting the Olympic stadium in Berlin, we walked round the back and found the memorial plaques pictured above. There among the 1936 Berlin games gold medal winners, is Hitler irritant Jesse Owen and New Zealand’s Jack Lovelock. Lovelock was given an oak sapling along with his gold medal and he handed it on to his old school, Timaru Boys High, where it still flourishes. We had hopes that Colin McCahon had attended Timaru Boys and, being art inclined, would no doubt have done a sketch of the oak during art class. Unfortunately the young McCahon went to school down the road at Waitaki Junior High. Still, through checking on Lovelock and art, we did find a bronze sculpture of the Olympiad, created by Margriet Windhausen, (she also did the Abel Tasman Memorial in Wellington) for sale on absoluteart’s web site. Naturally, we immediately made best efforts to buy it on behalf of you all. We have just had absoluteart’s reply. “Unfortunately the email address we have on file for Margriet Windhausen is no longer valid. We do not have a telephone number on file and the portfolio has not been updated since 2003. It seems we will not be able to help you contact this artist and will be removing this portfolio.” Sad. Mind you, we suspected this was the same sculpture that had been commissioned for Timaru Boys High School and that the absoluteart gig was wishful thinking. The result? Regrettably, there won't be a bronze sculpture of Jack Lovelock awarded to the winner of this year’s overthenet 1500 meters. Whoever breaks the finishing tape first, will have to be content with one of our regular table tennis ball's, signed by an artist of note.
Images: Top, the memorial to the gold medal winners of the 1936 Olympics at the Olympic stadium in Berlin, Bottom: left, the Olympic stadium, middle Lovelock on the winner’s stand with medal and oak sapling, right Margriet Windhausen's bronze sculpture Jack Lovelock 2002, in situ at Timaru Boys High