Michael Finch Athletics
South Africa’s dreams of hosting the World Cup soccer competition in 2002 could well be decided in Johannesburg from September 11-13 when the athletics version of the World Cup takes place at the Johannesburg stadium.
The event will be more than just the third biggest track and field festival in the world behind the Olympics and World Championships.
For South Africa it could determine its future ability to host world class international sporting events, including the soccer World Cup or even the Olympic Games, as the world’s sporting eyes and some 250-million television viewers focus their attention on the southern tip of Africa.
This fact has not escaped officials from the South African Football Association (Safa), who have already met with their athletics counterparts to lend their support and stress the importance of a successful event, while four members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), guests of South Africa’s own IOC member Sam Ramsamy, will also be present to keep an eye on proceedings.
For the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) the 1998 World Cup also represents a final role of the dice.
Since the first event in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1977, the World Cup has battled to attract the big names in world athletics and at the last event at Crystal Palace in London in 1994, the competition looked likely to be scrapped.
But the IAAF has since put its money where its mouths is and is offering R21,37-million in prize money for the first time, in order to attract the big names of the tartan track.
Add in Thursday’s announcement that the winners trophy will now be known as the Mandela trophy in perpetuity, in celebration of President Nelson Mandela’s 80th birthday, and all the ingredients – sentimental and monetary – have been mixed into the pot.
Not surprisingly, the carrot has had the desired effect.
Already the likes of American sprint sensation Marion Jones and British world triple-jump record holder, Jonathan Edwards, have expressed their desire to challenge their respective world records, and on paper it is not just a pipe dream.
With its high altitude and hard track, the Johannesburg stadium must rank as one of the “fastest” three tracks in the world behind Sestriere in Italy and Mexico City.
“After the World Cup it will be top,” says Athletics South Africa’s chief executive Bernard Rose. “I think when we look back at the times and the depth of times, it will prove I am right.”
Although the rarefied air is likely to negatively affect performances from 800m up, all the explosive events, including the throws and jumps, will revel in the conditions, and a new men’s 100m world record is not beyond the realms of possiblity.
So what exactly is the World Cup in Athletics?
The idea is simple. Six continental teams – Africa, the Americas, Europe, Oceania and the United States – together with the top two mens’ and womens’ teams from the European Cup (this year it will be Britain/Northern Ireland and Germany in the men and Russia and Germany in the women), line up in a three-day track and field meeting with the aim of accumulating as many points as possible.
There are no heats and only one representative from each team will compete in the one-off final.
The men’s champions for the last two years have been Africa, while a Unified team won the women’s event in 1992 and Europe in 1994.
Initially the idea was to keep the interest in athletics high during the post-Olympic season and the World Cup was held every two years. In 1985 it switched to a four-year cycle, this time with the aim of developing and promoting the sport within the continents.
Johannesburg won the right to bid for the World Cup by ASA after bidding against Durban and Cape Town and then went one better at the IAAF Council meeting in Monaco in 1994.
Since that day all has not been plain sailing for local organisers, as they battled to find sponsors to cover the almost R12-million they needed to add to the IAAF’s contribution of R24- million. Although bank group Absa came to the party early on, it has only been in the last three weeks that the remaining local sponsors – Vodacom and Telkom – confirmed their contribution.
“It certainly kept me up at nights,” admits Rose, who is the man charged with the marketing portfolio of the World Cup.
Security also proved to be a major concern for the IAAF delegation that visited Johannesburg in early August to make a final check on the progress, but a comprehensive high-level security plan, involving both the police and army, is being put in place to ensure the safety of athletes, officials and spectators.
All that remains now is to hope for a full stadium.