Gelant feels London champs a hurdle too far
5 000m runner in fall from grace
After veteran long jumper Khotso Mokoena gave up on qualifying for next month’s IAAF World Championships, SA 5 000m record holder Elroy Gelant is another high-profile athlete to have given up hope of making it to London with the qualification deadline looming large.
The cut-off for places is Sunday midnight and there are not many events left for hopefuls to meet the qualifying criteria.
Gelant – a finalist at the Rio Olympics a year ago – has cited ill health as a hurdle in his bid for a spot at the August 4-13 global track and field meeting.
“I decided not to go to Europe this year as I struggled with some health issues after the SA Championships [in Potchefstroom in April],” Gelant said.
Athletics SA (ASA) had invested in the star middle-distance runner as a potential medal challenger in London, so much so that the federation sent him on a dream training camp to Kenya early this year.
Prior to the Rio Games, Gelant smashed Stephen Mokoka’s SA 5 000m mark by nearly seven seconds when he clocked a time of 13:04.88 in Holland in May last year.
However, it all went pearshaped for the man from Pacaltsdorp, near George, when, by his own admission, he under-performed at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Uganda in March. He finished 44th.
The 30-year-old was not in the preliminary team that ASA announced last week, all 22 athletes having attained the federation’s stringent A-standard tickets to London. He needed to breach 13:24.59 to earn his berth. Gelant said athletes making the B-standard should not be overlooked.
“They need to be given the opportunity to gain experience. Look at Wayde [van Niekerk] and Akani [Simbine],” he said.
ASA excellence manager Hezekiel Sepeng said it would be at the federation’s discretion – in consultation with the track and field commission and board – whether to include athletes who fell short of the Astandard.