Our athletes deserve more
THE Rio Olympics ends on Sunday, and hopefully, our team’s medal tally would have increased by the time you read this.
It has been an exhilarating three weeks of sport where the shift of power played itself at the Rio Games, and we are proud to say Team SA also helped change the status quo in some of the blue riband events.
We will not forget the exploits of sprinter Wayde van Niekerk and long jumper Luvo Manyonga for years, for they have performed beyond our wildest expectations.
Van Niekerk’s world record run en route to the 400m gold medal on Monday, and Manyonga’s fairytale comeback to win silver – both on their Olympics debut – were the stuff of legend.
It goes to show that our track and field is a well of talent that should be taken seriously.
It is disturbing that the powers that be in both the public and private sectors treat athletics as a distant cousin to football, cricket and rugby, the big three that all enjoy huge sponsorships yet seldom match the hype when it matters most on the global stage.
Just as the government needs to do more for all sport, corporate SA also needs to invest long-term in our athletes rather than just pitch closer to marquee events such as the Olympics. Our athletes need to prepare long before such competitions.
But it must start with Athletics South Africa (ASA), who we doubt have done enough to promote the sports that, ironically, have always been our main source of medals in global events.
Instead, the federation is often dogged by controversy.
In hindsight, we could have had an outside chance for more medals had athletics chiefs applied their mind and entered 100m finalist Akani Simbine to represent us in the 200m, ahead of injured Anaso Jobodwana and novices Gift Leotlela and Clarence Munyai.
ASA also failed to prepare and qualify a relay team when they had 13 months to do so before the July 11 cut-off when our sprinters were on form.
Although it’s not Jobodwana’s fault that he made the Rio team, we are still disappointed at him for putting his interests before that of the country, based on his post-race interview on Tuesday.
To hear him conceding only after a race that maybe he should have stepped down and given this place to somebody like Simbine, smacked of putting yourself first at the expense of the country.
On a happier note, it was humbling to see the country rallying behind Caster Semenya before her race on Wednesday.
With the curtain about to fall on the Rio 2016, we hope the closing ceremony will open a new world of opportunities and corporate backing for our track and field athletes who have the global championships coming up in 12 months.
They deserve it.