\u2018Crushed\u2019 Raelene Boyle pulls out of Olympics<\/strong><\/p>\n Raelene Boyle yesterday pulled out of the Australian Olympic team to Moscow.<\/p>\n The champion sprinter, a triple Silver medallist, said part of her had been \u201cslowly crushed and stamped into the ground\u201d and she had been emotionally destroyed by confusion.<\/p>\n Raelene Boyle celebrates victory in the 400m at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Vic Sumner<\/cite><\/p>\n Her letter to the Australian Olympic Federation did not spell out whether the confusion was linked to the Federal Government\u2019s pressure on athletes to boycott the Games.<\/p>\n The Australian Volleyball Federation yesterday joined the equestrian and women\u2019s hockey teams in withdrawing from the Games. The yachting federation will make its decision today.<\/p>\n Two AOF executives have also withdrawn, and the body controlling athletes has been asked to consider a boycott.<\/p>\n Tasmania\u2019s delegate to the AOF, Mr Eric McRae, yesterday announced his resignation from the Moscow team.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t believe the Games should be held in a country at war and an invading nation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The general manager of the 1976 Olympic team, Mr Jack Howson, previously quit the team.<\/p>\n The president of the national athletic body, Mr Allan McDonald, said athletes should not go to Moscow. He has asked the executive of the Amateur Athletic Union of Australia and affiliated State associations to consider a boycott.<\/p>\n Australian Athletes sit in Lenin Stadium in Moscow watching the opening of the XXII Games.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cThe public backlash to the AOF decision on Friday has been very strong and there may be a change of heart,\u201d Mr McDonald said.<\/p>\n He said his personal stand since January had been one of heeding the Government decision and not participating in Moscow.<\/p>\n Two Federal Ministers continued the Government\u2019s pressure on athletes by urging athletes to boycott the Games and avoid being seen as a pawn of Moscow.<\/p>\n The Minister for Industry and Commerce, Mr. Lynch, said athletes who went to the Games would be seen as siding with the Soviet Union in its conflict with the West and as pawns in Moscow\u2019s \u201cgame\u201d of trying to humiliate the United States and its allies. \u201cThere is still time for our athletes to do the right thing,\u201d Mr. Lynch said. \u201cThe world is watching them.\u201d<\/p>\n The Minister\u2019s comments are firmer than those expressed by the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, on Sunday night when he urged all Australians to consider the national interest. Mr Lynch said it was time for conscience and realism. He said the Moscow Games were a charade.<\/p>\n \u201cSurely Australia\u2019s best sportsmen do not want to be part of this phony Olympics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Minister for Health, Mr Hunt, said it was outrageous that the federation was sending a team. The president of the AOF, Mr Syd Grange, rejected Mr Fraser\u2019s suggestion that the Games decision could be reversed. It was possible that many athletes would not go, but that was their decision.<\/p>\n The general manager of the Olympic team, Mr Phil Coles, said he had had a \u201cgutful\u201d of the controversy. It had reached the stage where he did not care whether Australia was represented.<\/p>\n The ACTU president, Mr. Hawke, said Mr. Fraser should accept the umpire\u2019s decision. The Opposition Leader, Mr Hayden, said the Prime Minister\u2019s conduct was disgraceful. The NSW Premier, Mr. Wran, will help finance athletes going to the Games, but the Queensland Premier, Mr Bjelke-Petersen, has changed his mind.<\/p>\n He had earlier supported an Australian team, but he now believed the AOF had put itself against the well-being of Australia.<\/p>\n The New Zealand men\u2019s hockey team – Gold Medal winner at the last Olympics – will not compete in Moscow.<\/p>\n The team\u2019s management committee resolved last night that the standard of competition had altered considerably and the team should not attend.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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