Vintage New Zealnd Plates Mark Time

New Zealand had a novel number plate system until the more conventional registrations were issued in 1958. Before that time, the licence plate comprised just numerals, with a separator which could be interpreted as a full stop, comma, star or decimal point - the exact character appeared not to be governed by the pedantic dictates of the modern day.

So, cycling sprint champion, James Grace, took good advantage of this when he achieved a record-breaking 10.261 seconds for a 200m sprint at Kunmin, China in 2008.

What better plate could there be to mark the event? He managed to find none other than 10.261 itself.

Perhaps he was a touch over-confident in maintaining his victory, because in a rash moment he promised to bequeath the plate to team-mate and protégé Sam Webster should he ever beat the record.

Unfortunately for Justin, the is exactly what happened recently in Moscow, when the upstart chalked up a staggering 10.205 seconds.

Cyclists in the sprint events need to achieve average speeds of around 70kph over the short course and both athletes intend to 'get on their bikes' and ride for their country at the London 2012 Olympics.

It is, perhaps, a shame that the UK registration system does not provide for 'time' plates. Otherwise many British athletes could have proudly displayed their legacies. For example, would it not have been wonderful for the legendary Roger Bannister to have been able to mark the world's first sub-4 minute mile with '239.4' (3 minutes, 59.4 seconds on 6 May 1954)? Unfortunately, the nearest he could have had would have been 'B239 SEC'.

Kris Akabusi MBE and Tessa Sanderson may also not have been able to find exact representations of their achievements but both have found ideal conventional personal plates to celebrate their sporting success.

Just click on the name links above to to read their fascinating stories.

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