Lindsey Geese remembers the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, including Dawn Fraser’s gold medal

In 2013, when Tokyo won the bid to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the plan was to provide Japan with a focused path to recovery after the devastation of the Fukushima nuclear accident caused by an earthquake and tsunami at sea.

Back in 1964, when Tokyo became the first Asian city to host a Summer Olympics, the Games were seen as Japan’s return to the world stage after the devastation of World War II.

Forty percent of the urban landscape has been flattened. Millions died. Nagasaki and Hiroshima were targets of American nuclear bombs. By the end of the war, nearly 40 percent of Japan’s population was homeless.

Less than 20 years later, they welcomed the world to the Olympics.

Australia sent a team of 250 to Tokyo, mostly men and 42 women.

Although not finishing anywhere near the medals, one of the teams that made an important mark was the men’s basketball team. Among them was Lindsay Jazz.

Lindsay Gaze is part of the basketball dynasty with his son Andrew. (

AAP: Julian Smith

)

Gaze has been recognized in the US Basketball Hall of Fame at the Naismith Memorial as “The Father of Basketball in Australia”.

He was a member of the first Australian basketball team to travel abroad at the start of a journey which saw the country continue to produce some of the world’s best players.

He participated in three Olympic qualifying tournaments, reached the qualifiers in Tokyo in 64, and then coached the men’s national team in four more matches. He is one of the sports legends of this country.

Sneaking up to watch Dawn Fraser win the gold medal

“If there’s one thing I can say about my experience in Tokyo it’s Dawn Fraser’s gold medal,” he told the ticket.

Fraser was at the height of her swimming career, competing in her third Olympic Games and on her way to becoming Australia’s Athlete of the Century, later declared by the International Olympic Committee as the greatest living watersports champion.

Dawn Fraser’s experience at the Tokyo Olympics involved gold and a bit of controversy. (

ABC News: James Carmody

)

Geez and two of his teammates decided they were going to see Fraser in the 100m freestyle final but it was too late to get limited tickets available to athletes who had already finished their competitions and were encouraged to go and support the others.

“So in an era when security measures weren’t what they are today, I suggested to a couple of my teammates that we try to explore the entry of athletes,” he said.

“We put on our tracksuits, grabbed a towel, wrapped it around our heads and shoulders and walked through the door.”

One of the security guards tried to stop them, and while Gaze had no idea what he was saying, he could make a very accurate guess.

He was asking to see their Olympic ID cards, but the basketball players knew the game would be over if they were paused.

“So we just smiled and waved and walked, a little faster than we should, and then dispersed as soon as we got to the seating area to find a place to sit down and watch the final,” he said.

“I managed to find a seat in the journalism department, which happened to be at the finish line, and I was supposed to be a reporter among them.

“I watched without finishing as a hero.”

Geez described that moment as a “privilege”.

“Being there at the time she won her last gold medal and of course to experience some drama when she was… um… how would you describe it? I crossed the moat into the Emperor’s Palace, I think it was,” he said of Fraser’s lesser-known activities in Tokyo. year 64.

Gaze takes a nice look at what has become one of the most famous sports scandals in this country; The moment Fraser and two members of the Australian team decided to “borrow” the Olympic flag.

Fraser was arrested but released without charge.

It may have been nearly 60 years ago, but the 84-year-old looks like she remembers it like it was yesterday.

“We chatted with Dawn in the village and compared experiences, and I think without being open, I think underestimating her personality,” Jess said.

“She’s a great athlete and has stood the test of time in public recognition.”

How will this time be different

Athletes heading to Tokyo for this year’s postponed matches will not spend those moments in the village that every Olympian remembers as some of the best of their lives.

Once the athletes have completed their competition, they will be required to travel from the Olympic city within 48 hours due to COVID-19 restrictions.

There will be no sharing of meals with athletes from countries about which little is known.

There will be few, if any, spectators depending on whether the stringent requirements have been tightened before the Games begin.

Without those moments, Geez said, he imagines this year’s games will be “a disappointment in most aspects about why you were competing in the first place.”

“I think Tokyo will be somewhat scary,” he said.

“When you relate to the Olympics, when all the nations of the world come together for what is the embodiment of friendship through sport, and unfortunately spectators are not allowed, the atmosphere will be very different from anything that has been experienced before.

“That’s the sad thing, I think.”

While basketball was what brought Geez to the games and changed the course of his life, it wasn’t always his favorite sport.

He was reluctant to embrace the game, preferring Australian rules until, after two years of asking, his older brother, Barry, finally convinced his brothers to accompany him to basketball training one day.

“I switched, and that became my passion,” he said.

“I thought ‘Well, if I keep playing football, the best I can do is play in the MCG,’ and I was already doing that.

“So, I thought… ‘If I could be the best I could ever play basketball, I might be able to travel the world.’”

“And that’s what happened, even though it was a dream come true at first.”

Boomers and star-studded Opal 2021 are a far cry from the Geez teams

Today, Australian basketball players ply their trade in the best leagues in the world.

Players like Hall of Famer Lauren Jackson, Patty Mills, Ben Simmons, Liz Cambage and Luc Longley are just a few of the names who have become international names thanks to their time in the States.

Australian basketball teams for Tokyo 2021

born

Opal

Aaron Pines *

Rebecca Allen*

Xavier Cox

Liz Campage *

Mitch Creek

Katie Abzeri

Matthew Delavedova *

Kayla George

Dante Exum

Tessa LaVey

Josh Gedi *

Tess Madjen

Chris Golding

Azi Magbegor *

Josh Green *

Leilani Mitchell *

Joe Engels *

Jenna Oh

Nick Kay

Alana Smith*

Jock Landal

Stephanie Talbot*

patty mills*

Mariana Tolo

MOTION BROCK

Dub Wraith

Nathan Sobey

Matisse Thiebol *

* Current NBA or WNBA players

But when Geese and his teammates headed out to try to make the playoffs at the 1960 Olympics, they were nameless and unexciting.

“It was the Rome Olympics – the first time we were out of Australia as a national team,” he said.

“That was an experience.

“We played games in Australia in Alice Springs and Darwin as exhibition and promotion games for the sport, which was pretty tough at the time and then stopped in the Philippines and we played two games there.

“After the first game, reporters announced that it could take about 30 years for basketball in Australia to catch up with the Philippines because we were defeated by about 30 years in the first game.”

Another pause. another memory. Another chuckle.

“By the second game, after we had gotten a little more acclimated to the weather in Manila, we had lost about six years and then the headlines said it probably wouldn’t take 30 years for Australia to catch up,” he said.

In Tokyo, four years later, Australian basketball has truly declared itself on the world stage.

“I think for us the Tokyo Olympics was a debut … a new team on the international ranks,” he said.

“We went through the qualifiers there and only lost one game, then we put in a great performance and far above expectations.

“We were very unlucky to lose to Yugoslavia in extra time, when we were four points ahead with one minute left, because Yugoslavia was one of the medal contenders at that time.

“It basically gave us faith in ourselves that we can compete at this level. It was definitely a great experience.”

Olympic leadership

Before he reaches Tokyo, he recalls an incident from the closing ceremony in Rome 1960.

“On the big billboard I wrote the word ‘Arivedisi Rome’ and then ‘See you in Tokyo,'” he said.

“I was standing next to an Australian athlete, who will remain nameless – he didn’t win a medal – and as we watched the big scoreboard with messages he was literally crying.

I said: What is the story? “I never achieved what I planned to achieve but I will be there at the next Olympics,” he said.

“It was like the goal setting and determination athletes have with the example of the Olympics experience… He was vowing that he would achieve his goal at the next Olympics.”

And is he?

“Unfortunately, he did not participate in the next Olympics, but only showed the feelings and emotions to participate in the Olympics, which is above all,” he said.

One of the two Australian Hall of Farmers

Gaze’s fingerprints can be found in much of the Australian basketball story and its rise since those early days.

That is why he, along with four-time Olympian Jackson, are the only Australians inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.

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“I still find it hard to understand or understand, you know?” He said.

“Because during my participation, our teams that I played in did not win any medals.

“There’s nothing I did that was exceptional, like leading the scorer or leading this or that, or whatever, I still don’t get it.

“When I was extrapolating the Naismith Hall of Fame, I really felt like an outsider and couldn’t really understand how I would compare to those inducted at the time…or before or after.”

But this is to be judged by others. And they have.

The Australian team heading to Tokyo in 2021 will be nearly twice the size of the team it was 60 years ago.

And expectations are high, for good reason. Australia consistently finishes in the top 10 in medal tally.

“I’ve talked to people from all over the world and they ask me how is this happening?” He said.

“Here’s Australia, remote to the extreme for their judgment, with very little population, not a whole lot of international competition, and yet they compete at the top level frequently.

“My general response is that we have an open country, an enthusiastic country and the opportunity to participate and encourage them to participate…the spirit of competition is one of the reasons why we can compete so well internationally.”

Gaze advice for Olympians 2021

Gaze offers some advice for those presiding over this year’s Summer Olympics.

“Keep a diary and enjoy the experience,” he said.

“I had this advice on my first Olympics. I was told that when you keep a diary, be as honest and precise as possible because your memory changes.

“I always found that going back to those diaries—which I had never done for 10 years…there were things I had forgotten.

“It made me think again about the history of my own experiences.

“Thank you for that.”

No, Lindsey Geese, thank you.

Over the next three weeks, before the July 23 Opening Ceremony, ABC Sport and The Ticket will bring you talks with three Australians who competed in 1964 – their memories, perspectives and messages to the athletes who are our Olympics in 2021.

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