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Noel Coventry is a 22-year-old deaf athlete and the sole New Zealand representative going to the Deaf Olympics in Yugoslavia. Club officials would drop a handkerchief for him to sight as a sign that the starting gun had been fired.

The deaf Lynndale athlete is endeavouring to gain selection for the forth coming Deaf Olympics to be held in Yugoslavia in July.

Coventry was selected as a sole member of the New Zealand team to attend the July Deaf Olympics in Yugoslavia.

Coventry who will contest the 5000 and 10,000 metres and 15-mile modified marathon races, has perhaps the best chance for a medal in the longest event.

At the basketball, also at Cowles Stadium, the New Zealand women beat Australia, 91-65, to notch the host country's first win in the sport. New Zealand led 45-26 at half-time and is now in the running for the bronze medal.

Stewart Smith who is deaf, has been in teams which have won the New Zealand fours twice, and one of his team has won the Auckland singles three years running.

Four New Zealand deaf athletes are favoured to win medals in swimming, cycling, and badminton. The 112-strong New Zealand team will compete in 11 of the 12 sports.

People who can hear as well as see 'Reasonable Doubts' (TV3, 9.50pm Saturdays) might be surprised to learn that Deaf New Zealanders can understand deaf lawyer Tessa Kaufman’s sign language little better than they can. ASL, used by Deaf actor Marlee Matlin, is a foreign language here. My Deaf friends give it the thumbs up. But the failure of television in New Zealand to provide anything in NZSL is described as “a running sore” by Hilary McCormack.