GET THE SPEARS OUT
The nine medals we won thus far sends a message to our politicians that they need to get their act together for Durban 2022 and name the LOC, says David Isaacson
That’s a largely frightening thought, especially in a sport like swimming, where the talent pool seems to be drying up One sprinter said athletes from other nations were surprised that SA had no 4x100m relay team here
We salute our heroes who went to Rio and did well, winning nine medals and four fourth places so far
SOUTH African sport might actually stand a chance if the politicians stop fiddling.
Team SA’s glittering medal haul at the Rio Olympics will probably blind many to the pitfalls in the road to the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Durban.
Olympics and other multisport competitions are all stops along the same track, and how the country prepares its team for the showpiece in 2022 will rub off on South African performances at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics.
But politicians are stalling this train.
The bid presentation referred to a plan to pump R1-billion into developing athletes across all age groups.
But nearly a year since Durban was named as the Commonwealth Games hosts, the local organising committee has yet to be named, and according to one SA Olympic Committee (Sascoc) source, the Commonwealth Games Federation is getting nervous.
Given that most of the facilities in Durban already exist, a little less than six years is probably ample time to physically prepare for the Games.
But the 12 months that have lapsed is a blow to athlete development, and the clock keeps ticking.
That R1-billion must still be secured and the age-group athletes, now one year older, have yet to be identified.
SA sport needs to implement structures and policies to make sure that all efforts flow towards building the team for 2022; the goal is to ensure that the host nation finishes near the top of the table.
That means attaining a ranking of higher than fifth place, SA’s best position achieved at three postisolation Games in 1998, 2006 and 2010.
Six years ago most of SA’s medallists at the Rio Games, from Chad Le Clos and Wayde van Niekerk to triathlete Henri Schoeman and Luvo Manyonga, were already making their mark.
Some, like Le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh, benefited from an unparalleled period of funding made available by the Lotto from 2009 to 2012.
That tap was tightened four years ago, but that investment is still paying dividends.
If an athlete is not at the top of his or her age group now, the odds of being discovered and developed by 2022 are almost zero.
That’s a largely frightening thought, especially in a sport like swimming, where the talent pool seems to be drying up.
Outside of Le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh, who won three medals in Rio as they did at London 2012, there was little else to shout about.
Four years ago four swimmers made finals. This time there were only three.
US-based Brad Tandy was the new face in the 50m freestyle final, and Myles Brown, Le Clos’s training partner in Pinetown, Durban, swam best times.
What happened to SA’s two supposed medal-challenging relay teams in Rio? They figured highly in Swimming SA’s talk about Olympic planning and preparation, yet they didn’t even make the finals.
That’s a fail, but whether it will cost the federation’s executive at their upcoming elections remains to be seen.
Team SA came to Rio with its largest track and field squad in history, substantially larger than the one that went to London by 29 members to 12, excluding the marathon runners and race walkers.
By yesterday morning they had equalled the all-time best haul of three medals.
And if Caster Semenya made the podium in the women’s 800m in the early hours of this morning — as many expected her to do — this would have been SA’s greatest athletics performance.
In fact, if Semenya secured gold for SA’s 10th medal, then Rio would have been the country’s best Olympics in 96 years.
The Athletics SA bigwigs don’t deserve to bask in these statistics.
Four years ago the 12 athletes qualified for a combined six finals, but this time 29 made only seven finals.
The worst, however, is that ASA threw away two medal chances here.
They were too inept to organise sufficient qualification attempts for the SA men’s potent 4x100m relay team.
One sprinter said athletes from other nations were surprised that SA had no team here.
The other lost medal was ASA not selecting Akani Simbine — who missed out on the 100m bronze medal by three-hundredths of a second — to run in the 200m.
Given Simbine’s solid form in the past month, there’s no reason to think he couldn’t have taken one of the minor medals in the longer sprint behind Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt, who completed his triple treble of Olympic golds on Friday night.
If the ASA electorate gave a hoot, it would hoof the board at its looming election.
Every competitor who won a medal at the Rio Games had to be world class, yet SA’s administrators are entitled to be blundering bozos seemingly incapable of even tying their shoe laces.
Are these the people who are going to devise a R1-billion development spending spree? Hopefully not.
But it doesn’t have to be doom and gloom.
Rowing is one sport at home that has implemented a successful programme, the brainchild of head coach Roger Barrow.
He created a squad system that qualified a record five SA boats for the Rio Games, although he was disappointed with his return of one silver medal and two fourth places.
But Barrow could make a great national director of coaching, overseeing individual federations and ensuring they implement workable programmes to prepare their athletes for 2022 and beyond.
Not every sport will benefit from rowing’s particular system, but Barrow understands nuance.
And as a juggler who has operated masterfully on shoestring budgets in his eight years at the helm of rowing, he would be the perfect person controlling the purse strings.
Politicians must clear the tracks for 2022 by naming the LOC as soon as possible, and administrators have to appoint the right sports brains to oversee the programmes.
That way the true experts can drive what could become a juggernaut that will create medal growth at all multi-sport competitions.
Think Rio was good? Team SA’s performance at the 2024 Olympics should dwarf that.