Reading: Violet Walrond

Violet Walrond

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Violet was New Zealand’s first female olympian and to this day, she remains the youngest New Zealand athlete ever to compete at the games.

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At the first Modern Olympic games, held in Athens in 1896, no New Zealanders attended at all. It was to stay this way for more than a decade.

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By the fourth modern games in 1908, the situation had improved. 3 New Zealand athletes competed as part of a combined Australasian team, with Harry kerr scoring our first ever Olympic medal.

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The combined team that went to Stockholm four years later, also contained three New Zealand athletes, two of whom won medals.

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The first world war intervened, and the 1916 games were cancelled.

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The 1920 Olympic games were held in Antwerp, Belgium, as a tribute to the bravery of the belgians and their devastated country and in memory of the soldiers killed in Europe during the war.

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Money and distance had always been major struggles when it came to getting New Zealand athletes to the Olympics- and 1920 was no exception.

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After the funds had finally been raised, the team set off in June. First, there was a train to Wellington, followed by a boat, the Manuka, to Sydney.

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Violet and her team-mates had little chance to train during their long  journey, and they reached Belgium with only a few days to spare.

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For the opening ceremony, in mid August, they had no uniform. Violet wore a cream skirt and blouse, the men wore suits. They all had hats with a fern leaf embroidered on the hatband.

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Cecil Walrond (who came to the trip as Violet’s unofficial coach), Took his daughter to see other New Zealand Olympic athletes competing.

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A Civic reception was held to welcome the athletes back. When Violet went, she wasn’t allowed to attend.

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After 3 years Violet continued to race and win for Australia and New Zealand.

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Violet lived around 91. A fews years before Violet had passed away, she had an interview about the swimming champions.

By: AJ

In Reading we read an article about Violet Walrond. We did sub headings and these are mine. Please leave a positive and thoughtful comment on this post.