Susan Park

Cantabrian Susan Burnside, born in 1957, set tongues wagging with a sensational long jump in the lead-up to the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games.

Burnside, only 16, was still at Mairehau High School, and represented the Christchurch Technical Athletics Club when she leapt 6.19m in a meet at QEII Park in December 1973. It was the 4th longest long jump recorded by a New Zealand woman to that point and elevated Burnside from a promising schoolgirl athlete to a certainty for selection in the Commonwealth Games team the following month.

She was fortunate that at the Technical club she came under the eye of master coach Valdy Briedis, who had coached superstar athletes Val Young and Marise Chamberlain.

The long-legged Burnside had previously hinted at her potential with a jump of 6.01m to set Canterbury under-17, under-18 and under-19 records.

At the Commonwealth Games, the spring-heeled Burnside had a particularly busy schedule for one so young. She competed in the high jump, long jump and two-day pentathlon.

In the high jump, Burnside cleared 1.50m and 1.55m but could progress no further and finished at the tail of the 14-strong field.

She performed better in the long jump, where her first leap of 6.02m qualified her for the final. Unfortunately she had a disappointing time of it in the final, with two no jumps followed by a cautious 5.58 effort that left her in 11th place.

In the pentathlon, Burnside finished with 3728 points, finishing 11th of the 13 entrants. In the long jump section of the pentathlon, she leapt 6.02m, revealing how below form she’d been in the specialist long jump event.

Burnside continued competing and won the New Zealand long jump title in 1977 with a leap of 6.21m, her longest ever. That distance is now 17th on the all-time New Zealand list.

Burnside was married to sprinter Grant Anderson for a time. She is now Susan Park.