Many of South Africa=D5s representatives have good prospects for gold in th=
upcoming All Africa Games in Zimbabwe, writes Julian Drew
AFTER International Olym-pic Committee president Juan Antonio=20 Samaranch opens the sixth All Africa Games in Harare next Wednesday=20 South Africa=D5s 407-strong team is expected to claim a sizable proportion =
the available medals over the ensuing 10 days of competition.=20 The showcase sport of athletics will no doubt be bereft of most of Africa=
best athletes, but even so South Africans will still not find it easy to wi=
medals on the track. South Africa=D5s best medal chances will come from the=
men=D5s and women=D5s field events along with our walkers and female=20 hurdlers. Elana Meyer and Gwen Griffiths should also do well.=20 Boxing is a sport where we should do well and there is the added incentive=
of a place on the team to the Olympic Games in Atlanta at stake. A medal=20 of any colour will be good enough to book a ticket to America. Those=20 most capable of doing so are light-flyweight Hawk Makepula, lightweight=20 Irvin Buhlalu, who had a good showing at the recent world champ-ionships=20 in Berlin, light-welterweight Stephen Carr, welterweight Joe Mestre and=20 light-middleweight Victor Kunene. =20 In the other combat sports of judo, karate, taekwondo and wrestling, Egypt=
and the other Arab countries are strong but world champion and world cup- winner in the over 58kg division for women=D5s karate, Sandra Ferreira, wil=
be a sure bet for gold.=20 The cycling road race will be contested in Bulawayo and South Africa=20 should take the team title as well as the individual medals with=20 Commonwealth bronze medallist Willie Englebrecht the most likely=20 candidate for gold. South Africa=D5s swimmers should also sweep all before=
them with Olym-pic medal hope Penny Heyns in the 100m and 200m=20 breaststroke leading the way. =20 In the hockey tournament the men=D5s team must win to qualify for Atlanta=
and that they should do comfortably with only Kenya likely to put up much=
of a fight. The women, too, should win but they will have to wait until the=
qualifying tournament in Cape Town in November before they can secure=20 their place at next year=D5s Olympics.=20 South Africa=D5s shottists will probably do well in the remaining shooting=
events after their good results at the African championships in Cairo in=20 May. In gymnastics, table tennis and tennis South Africa are also expected=
to win medals. In the team sports of soccer, basketball and handball, South Africa failed =
qualify to compete in Harare and in the other team sport of volleyball both=
our men=D5s and women=D5s teams are likely to be out of their depth.=20 In the demonstration sports of rugby and netball South Africa are expected=
to win. However, the netball side which finished runners-up in the world=20 championships in July, including the tournament=D5s top scorer Irene van=20 Dyk, will mostly be absent from Harare after five members of that all- white team were replaced by black players leading to the withdrawal of six=
of the remaining seven squad members.=20 The resulting outcry and accusations of affirmative action followed by=20 counter accusations from the other sectors of the unified but still fragile=
Netball South Africa have done nothing for the image of sport in this=20 country and the general morale of the team going to Harare on Sunday. But=
that fiasco aside, the prospects for success in Zimbabwe still look very=20
However, it would be well to remember that with the exception of athletics,=
boxing and soccer, Africa does not feature very prominently in the upper=20 reaches of world sporting standards. If, as expected, South Africa tops the=
medal table at the end of the Games we should caution against any=20 temptations to rest on our laurels in our more serious pursuit of Olympic=