Man up, Athletics SA
Athletics body must jack up act after the Speed Series fiasco
IT’S quite ironic that on the very night Athletics SA (ASA) presented Wayde van Niekerk with his world record plaque from the IAAF, the electronic timer went to sleep during the race involving the Olympic champion on Wednesday night.
SA junior star Gift Leotlela handing the world champ a rare defeat was supposed to hog the headlines but, alas, it was a faulty clock that made the news at the second leg of the ASA Speed Series at the Mangaung Athletics Stadium in Bloemfontein, interestingly Van Niekerk’s home town.
Similarly, two more feats were obscured on the night – Ruan de Vries setting a new SA 110m hurdles record, and Luvo Manyonga’s leap that was four centimetres off Khotso Mokoena’s 8.50m national and African record.
It is concerning that such an important track and field meeting was reduced to an event that left almost everyone, including top local athletes, casting doubt over the results that will be used to measure the progress of sprinters this season.
And as a result of the flop with the timing system on Wednesday, De Vries’s record could be a bit suspect.
Former SA 100m record holder Henricho Bruintjies took to Twitter to sum up the shambles.
“I’m sorry but I do not believe this... people are feeding us lies!!!” he tweeted.
As I penned this piece, it was not clear whether the hand-timed 10-second times recorded on Wednesday were legitimate or not, something that made it even more difficult for the media to relate the story to the world that is so closely scrutinising Van Niekerk’s every move since his Olympic record-breaking exploits.
In modern day athletics, hand-timing is akin to using a fax as a mode of communication in a time where even social media has taken over to deliver news in real time.
The difference in time – between electronic and hand timers – affects the sprints more than distance races.
It is inevitable that in situations like this, no one wants to take responsibility but the onus is on Athletics SA to protect their integrity and make sure they capatilise on brand Wayde to market the federation that is still trying to convince corporates to invest in the sport.
Clearly, nothing was learnt from last season when confusion followed another ASA flagship event – the SA Open Championships at the same venue in May last year.
This after the clock captured Van Niekerk’s time as 43.88‚ which later emerged was wrong, but the story was already making international headlines. Passing the buck won’t help matters as ASA remains accountable to the athletics family.
President Aleck Skhosana and his board must jack up their act otherwise their good deeds of providing the athletes with more competitive events could well count for nought.