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Reginald James "Reg" Spiers (born 14 December 1941) is an Australian former athlete who competed in the javelin throw at the 1962 Commonwealth Games, before his later conviction on drug smuggling charges. He is best known for successfully posting himself in a box from England to Australia to avoid paying for a plane ticket. ==Athletic career== Born in Adelaide, South Australia, Spiers, who grew to be over two metres tall and strongly built,〔Rettie, J. "Australian's French connection", ''The Age'', p. 1., 13 February 1987〕 took up javelin and became one of the leading javelin throwers in Australia while still a teenager, placing third in the 1960/61 Australian Track and Field Championships and second in 1961/62.〔 His results led to his qualification for the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Western Australia, where he came fifth with a best throw of 69.70 metres.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.athletics.com.au/history/athletes/athlete630.html )〕 Spiers continued to compete but his performances during the 1963/64 Australian summer were not enough to gain admission to the 1964 Australian Olympic team so Spiers travelled to England in an attempt to qualify during the English summer.〔 Unsuccessful and penniless by the end of the season, Spiers enlisted a fellow athlete to help him build a man-sized wooden box, in which he then air-freighted himself back to Australia. Referred to as having "heroic - albeit borderline delusional gumption" for his actions, Spiers eventually made it to Perth, although nearly dehydrating on the runway in Mumbai.〔 Spiers's 1964 journey as airfreight from London to Australia was highly publicised after the British javelin thrower who'd built Spiers's box, John McSorley, became concerned about his friend's welfare and contacted sports correspondent James Coote from ''The Telegraph'' newspaper in London. Following his six-year disappearance after skipping bail from Adelaide with his girlfriend in 1981, Spiers declined a television interview with Channel 9 in 1988. Scant details had survived about Spiers's sixty-three hour stowaway flight, and little was known about his time on the run, until he endorsed a book by McSorley's wife and son.〔McSorley, J. & McSorley, M. (2014). ''Out Of The Box: The Highs and Lows of a Champion Smuggler'', Roaring Forties Press: California. ISBN 978-1-938901-32-4〕 After a brief retirement, Spiers returned to competitive athletics in the 1966/67 season, winning the national javelin championship with a throw of 73.77 metres.〔 The next season, Spiers recorded his best ever throw of 74.45 metres but only finished third nationally.〔 Spiers continued to compete until 1980/81, again winning the national javelin throw in 1976/77 with a throw of 73.68 metres.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Reg Spiers」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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