Nicola Byrne
THE first time Olympic gold medalist Josia Thugwane received any support from South African sporting authorities was when he arrived at Johannesburg International Airport to depart for the Games in Atlanta.
On that occasion he was given a kit bag which held two Springbok strips to add to the six pairs of running shoes which had been donated to him over the years by a major sports clothing firm.
Six weeks on and Thugwane and his family are getting ready to move into a house bought for them by the Mpumalanga government. He is chauffeur-driven everywhere and carries a cellphone donated by the National Olympic Council, “because they haven’t found me a sponsor yet,” he explains.
While these newfound luxuries are very welcome, Thugwane says he could have done with some support a lot earlier in his career. “When I had nothing it was hard to keep going, I wish I could have got some help then,” he told the Mail & Guardian.
“But it’s very nice that everybody wants to help me now and I’ll take whatever I can get.”
Although Thugwane first came to the attention of the national athletics federation when he won its national championship in 1993, Athletics South Africa’s chief secretary, Banele Sindani, says he was not given any funding for coaching or equipment because long-distance runners “tend to go their own way”.
“They concentrated more on making money from running marathons and this is very successful for many. We tend to concentrate on track and field athletes who can benefit more from training and funding.”
That said, Sindani’s organisation only has the scope to deal with 20 athletes in the run-up to Sydney 2000 and their programme is already full. “Of course, we would like more money but the government has other priorities like housing, education and health, only then can they look at us and we understand that point. Although we don’t have an affirmative action policy here, we do try and help black athletes as they’re usually in need of more assitance than others.”
For some Olympians the situation was very different from that of Thugwane’s. In 1994, Durban City Council spent R14-million refurbishing and heating their Olympic-sized pool, so that Penny Heyns and other Olympic hopefuls could train there during the winter months.
The obvious imbalance in sporting facilities for young black and white athletes, a large factor in the overwhelmingly white team which the Nocsa sent to Atlanta, is unlikely to be redressed soon, according to Sindani.
Sports Minister Steve Tshwete admitted this week that paucity of sports facilities in township schools is a major source of concern to him and affirmed that the issue is a priority for his department.
However, it’s unlikely the racial mix of the team which goes to Sydney in four years’ time will be significantly different from the team which went to Atlanta.
Echoing the sentiments of many of the coutry’s new sports administrators, Sowetan sports editor Molefi Mika maintains it will be many years before young black athletes can enjoy the success of their white counterparts.
“It’s not really surprising when you think in some of the townships they hardly have a running track or a swimming pool. I don’t mean an Olympic pool, I mean any pool.”