We’re doing athletes in the US a disservice

Every now and then we’ll hear of a South African athlete who has achieved a remarkable performance on the US collegiate circuit. And just as fast as they are elevated to headline status, they’ll fade back into obscurity.

While our locally-based athletes are stealing the show week in and week out, foreign-based athletes are competing for scraps in the media, if they’re lucky.

When Anaso Jobodwana lined up next to Usain Bolt in the men’s 200m final at the 2012 London Olympics, I was as guilty as anyone. I knew nothing about one of the most promising young athletes in the country.

It was a wake-up call for me as a reporter, and since then I’ve made an effort to keep up with what South African athletes are doing on the most competitive student circuit in global athletics.

And I’m glad I did, as some of the country’s top athletes in recent years have emerged in the US.

Dominique Scott-Efurd has become one of the most popular distance runners in the country, but it wasn’t easy for her. She’s been snubbed by the national selectors for a number of SA teams, and while she has finally earned some favour from local officials, Scott-Efurd’s success is a result of her own determination and persistency. We might take the credit for her performances now, but we had very little to do with any of them.

Jobodwana, similarly, had to rip his body to pieces on the racing circuit just to catch a glance from media and fans back home.

And when Jobodwana was facing career-threatening injury @wesbotton troubles, he did get some help, with Sascoc ensuring he received the medical attention he needed. But he had to reach an Olympic final and break a national record before we gave much notice of his existence.

Stuck in the same boat, but without a global championship final or SA outdoor record behind his name, Ncinci Titi must have felt incredibly frustrated for a long time before he made the shock decision this week to end his promising career at the age of 25.

If he was based here, we might care more, we might share tales of his plight and we might provide the support he needs to shine at the highest level of professional athletics. But he’s not, we don’t and we won’t.

One of the country’s most talented sprint prospects, Titi had the world at his feet. Based in the US, however, he was for all intents and purposes gone and forgotten.

Perhaps he’ll make a welcome return to the sport, perhaps we’ll care more and perhaps we’ll make the effort to support him in his endeavours on the track.

More importantly, however, maybe this is an opportunity for us to reconsider the way we treat South African athletes who are based outside our country.

It may well be too late for Titi, but it’s not too late for us to learn from our mistakes.

Derrick Mokaleng, another sprinter based in the US, has the potential to become one of the top 400m speedsters in the world, but if he needs a hand, he’s not going to get it from his “adoptive” nation. When he competes internationally, he’ll be wearing SA kit, and that support needs to come from us.

Scott-Efurd squeezed through to the elite ranks with determination, Jobodwana’s career is teetering on an edge and Titi’s competitive aspirations have come to a premature close.

But in a small world, South Africans are South Africans regardless of where they live.

The least we can do is treat Mokaleng better than we did his predecessors.

They might be gone, but South African athletes should never be forgotten.