Selwyn Times: July 12, 2016

10
Tuesday July 12 2016
SELWYN TIMES
Dickson chases Olympic gold
Sam Dickson cut his
teeth playing rugby
for West Melton. Next
month he will stand
on the world’s biggest
sporting stage – the
Rio Olympics. Gordon
Findlater talks to Dickson
about how lucky he
is to be competing at
the games, following a
miraculous return from
injury.
LESS THAN three months ago
Sam Dickson lay in the middle
of the field in agony at the Hong
Kong sevens tournament.
His teammates were celebrating
a last minute game winning
try against Kenya.
But Dickson was contemplating
how bad the knee injury he
had just sustained could be.
“First of all, I thought it was
just my [medial collateral ligament],
which is usually about
eight weeks out.
“Then I went and had an MRI
and found out the next day the
[anterior cruciate ligament] was
ruptured, which wasn’t great
news.
“To be honest, I thought Rio
was completely out of the picture.”
A ruptured ACL would in
almost any circumstance mean
surgery and at least six months
out of the game.
The lure of the Olympic Games
was enough for the 26-year-old
to take a risk and go the non-traditional
method of attempting to
recover from the injury without
surgery. A decision that would
GOING FOR GOLD: Sam
Dickson has recovered
from a serious injury and is
now gearing up for the Rio
Olympics, where he hopes
to win gold with the New
Zealand Sevens team. ​
keep his Rio dream alive.
The odds were not in Dickson’s
favour. However, his knee recovered
to the point where he could
take part in the sevens trial camp
three weeks ago.
“I hadn’t done much field stuff
by then.
“To be honest, I didn’t have a
lot of confidence going into that,
but I managed to get through it
and I was pretty happy with the
way i went.”
With his knee holding up to
the test, Dickson accomplished
the goal that just a few month
ago he would have seen as a long
shot. Being named in the sevens
squad for the Rio Olympics.
Sevens didn’t enter Dickson’s
mind until 2012, spending 17
years coming through the grades
as an emerging flanker.
Dickson’s rugby career began
as a five-year-old playing midget
rugby for West Melton.
He would play through the
grades for the club, even playing
afternoon games in the country
competition after playing for
his secondary school team, St
Thomas, in the morning.
After going on to play first
XV rugby in his final year at
St Thomas, Dickson spent two
years playing for Marist Albion
colts before rejoining his boyhood
club, West Melton.
He would go on to captain the
side as well as lead the Ellesmere
and Canterbury Country representative
teams.
Sam Dickson
Birthdate:
October 28, 1989
Height: 1.92m
Position: Forward
Fact: Dickson’s
only previous
sevens experience
prior to taking
part in a sevens
camp in 2012 was
playing at midget
level with West
Melton. Dickson
is the only South
Island member of
the New Zealand
Sevens team.
The Laboratory and Arts On Tour announce
their next event on Monday 25 July will be
Everest Untold, an engrossing homage to
epic expeditions. Part climbing experience,
part history lesson and part personal
revelation, Everest Untold gives “…the
untold story all New Zealanders should
know” about the 1953 Everest expedition in
which Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay
reached the summit of Mt Everest. Written
by Gareth Davies and produced by Ffynroc
Productions, the touring play features
Stephen Lovatt as Everest expedition leader
Sir John Hunt, and Edwin Wright as ‘the
other Kiwi’ - Hawkes Bay born George
Lowe.
Through this partnership, Davies reveals
stories of sheer grit, determination and
ambition in a dangerously inhospitable
environment. For British Army Colonel Sir
John Hunt, it’s all about the grand plan: For
Lowe, experienced climber, schoolmaster
with a can-do attitude, it’s all about the
men. We also learn of the other men in the
expedition – a physicist, geologist, doctor,
cameraman, mountaineers and, of course,
the Nepalese Sherpas. The play explores the
cultural differences and divides, but also the
passion to climb that all the members share.
The Laboratory is opening especially on
a Monday (when normally closed) so
the whole venue will be given over to this
fantastic show. Doors open at 5.30pm and
the play starts at 7pm (60 mins no interval).
The bar will be open with a delicious menu
available on the night but seats are limited,
so do book a table by calling 325 3006 if you
have purchased a ticket and want to ensure
you get a great seat to dine before the play
begins.
Tickets are $25 and available over the bar or
online from Eventfinda.
“This is a play truly for New Zealanders and
New Zealand’s reputation abroad…I can’t tell
you how informative it is, how entertaining
it is and what a great evening it was at the
theatre” - Raymond Hawthorne, ONZM