Geoff Capes at EC in 1978?

[pela2]

Hi,

I'm in the process to expand my all-time list from 21.00m back to 20.00m and when checking the marks for 1978, I noticed that Geoff Capes was disqualified after the qualification (when he had a 20.08) in the Euro Champs in Prague by the comment "serious misconduct and unsporting behaviour towards officials in the call-room". This is the first time I noticed that disqualification. Anyone with any background what happened there in the callroom in Prague in 1978? Brainfreeze by Capes or what? It seems that he was disqualified after the qualification and final when he seems not to be allowed to compete in the final.

[SteveSmith]

Sorry for the tiny font size:

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspap...-1.2.70.1.aspx

[pela2]

Sorry for the tiny font size:

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspap...-1.2.70.1.aspx

I'm sorry but I get the message

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[Davidokun]

Oh yes, and he was sent home in disgrace from the European Championships in Prague in 1978 after punching a referee and two guards touting machine guns when they complained he wasn't wearing the right competition number.

'When I'm getting ready for a competition, you don't talk to me - end of story,' he explains.

Link to source:

An incredible hulk? No, I'm just a big tweetie: How Geoff Capes became King of the Budgies

[br]

He may have been singled out by the authorities after he advocated a boycott of the '78 Euros in Prague, alleging his Eastern European counterparts were using banned substances.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?n...,2882526&hl=en

He mentions the incident in this 2006 audio recording from "An Oral History of British Athletics." (36:10 mark)

http://sounds.bl.uk/Oral-history/Spo...X0045XX-0100V0

The entire interview (parts 1-4) lasts 2.5+ hours.

[MDelano]

It's described in detail in his autobiography Big Shot (London: Stanley Paul, 1981).

Apparently he was allowed to do the qualification without wearing a number on the front of his vest but the next day was checked again by the same official but now was refused for not having one. There was no time to go back to the village to retrieve the number. Athletes were called, he joined the line-up, officials tried to stop him physically and then things got out of hand.