Participants In Olympics For Deaf Visit Mexico City

Seventeen New Zealanders, en route to the tenth annual International Games for the Deaf in Washington, D.C., have been squeezing some Mexico City sightseeing into a brief lay-over during their trip.

The group, which includes two girls, arrived here Friday afternoon after spanning the South Pacific on Qantas Airlines’ Sydney-to-Mexico-to-London flight.

The Olympiad in Washington gets under way June 27 and lasts until July 3rd. Some 32 nations, represented by 1,053 athletes, will match muscles during the competitions.

New Zealand’s contingent, headed by Stewart Smith, includes a basketball team, wrestler, trackmen, table tennis players and a swimmer.

The group leaves tonight for New Orleans and then on to Washington. After the games, the New Zealanders will hop-scotch westward across the U.S., getting in as much sightseeing as possible.

After visiting Hawaii they will again pick up Qantas for the long hop to the Fiji Islands, where they switch to a New Zealand plane for the last leg of their trip.