Arthritis halts speedster at peak of career

Paul Nash nearly did not run on the unforgettable evening in 1968, when he equalled the world 100m record of 10.0sec.

Rigidly applying the amateur code of the day, an official would not allow Nash to enter the Krugersdorp stadium when he refused to pay the entrance fee.

Fortunately, the deadlock was broken when it was pointed out that it was Nash everyone had come to see.

Nash recalls conditions were not ideal for sprinting that April evening.

It had rained in the afternoon and the cinder track was wet and heavy. Nevertheless, about 16000 people came to watch Nash make another assault on the mark. It was such a crush that announcer and Nash's coach John Short had to implore people to move their feet from the side of the track.

Nash was 21 and wanted to run a 9.9 or 9.8sec. He memorably ran 10.0, equalling the world record.

Three months later, he confirmed his status as one of the greatest sprinters in history when he achieved a then-unprecedented sprint double of a 10.0 100m and 20.1 200m within an hour in Zurich.

But then tragedy struck.

"People complained that I never formally retired from athletics, but it was never my intention to stop competing", he explained.

What began as a sore toe rapidly became a debilitating condition that forced Nash out of competitive athletics.

"The doctors could not tell me what happened," he remembers, but what cut him down in his prime has been retrospectively diagnosed as "reactive arthritis", a rare condition that attacks the immune system of young people under stress.

Nash is not bitter about his sudden exit from athletics and does not live in the past. "You have to put these things behind you," he says .

Now chairman of Sable Holdings, a property investment and development company, the Wits Bachelor of Commerce graduate initially channelled that focus into his father's business.

Over the past 40 years, he has enjoyed a successful and varied business career that included an aviation company, Astro Helicopters, and a road-freight business.

He enjoys spending time with his five grandchildren, but retains a keen interest in athletics. He admires Usain Bolt, whom he calls "a phenomenon". His own long stride was similar to Bolt's.

"In my day, the belief was that a sprinter could not be too tall because he would lack co-ordination," said Nash who, at just under 1.83m, was considered a little tall for a sprinter. Bolt is more than 17cm taller.

Although Nash's overseas competition opportunities were limited, he raced against Jim Hines, who took the 100m gold and world record in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics in a blistering 9.95sec - a time which stood for 15 years.

Does he think he could have turned the tables on Hines in Mexico City?

Nash nods decisively.

Mayer is a member of the South African Association of Athletics Statisticians