Michael Finch Commonwealth Games
Dope tests on lawn bowlers? Believe it. That’s how serious the South African team is taking its participation in the Commonwealth Games starting in Kuala Lumpur next week.
Despite 13 medal-melting withdrawals, including athletics gold medal certainty Llewellyn Herbert, the team will travel to their second Commonwealth Games almost sure to double the 11 medals they won in Victoria, Canada, in 1994.
Even down to drug testing every sports code, including the rarely tested bowlers and cricketers, the team are taking no chances.
Chief doctor Ishmael Jakoet confirms the Institute for Drug Free Sport has conducted tests on every one of the 15 sporting codes, although expense meant that not all individuals had been forced to produce a sample.
“I think its the first time that lawn bowlers, tenpin bowlers, netball and badminton have been drug tested,” says Jakoet. “It was mostly the minor codes that hadn’t been tested before and it caused some raised eyebrows. But it’s what they can expect in Malaysia so they may as well get used to it.”
Every sample collected goes through the entire screening process, checking for any trace of steroid abuse, abnormal hormone levels and illegal stimulants – and that goes for those unlikely suspects, the lawn bowlers. As thorough as they have been, the team has been hit by crucial withdrawals over the last few weeks before they even assembled at their holding camp at Esselen Park near Johannesburg before their departure this Friday.
Athletics has been the hardest hit since the announcement of the initial team, with five withdrawals. Herbert’s demise – a sinus operation four weeks ago ruined his preparations – is a certain medal gone a-begging, with marathoner Nixon Nkodima – who withdrew after accidentally shooting his neighbour in the leg – also an outside medal chance. High-jumper Casper Labuschagne was ranked fourth in the Commonwealth before he withdrew with injury, while 10E000m ace Hendrick Ramaala, another who stood an outside chance of a podium finish, decided to concentrate on the World Half Marathon championships instead of making the trip to Kuala Lumpur.
There is also concern over the fitness of Olympic 800m silver medallist Hezekiel Sepeng. Sepeng, short on race practice, is battling with a back injury and did not compete in the African championships two weeks ago
The Rugby Sevens squad was the team hardest hit by injury-enforced withdrawals, when first Vlok Cilliers, then Springbok Andr Snyman and Steven Brink withdrew. The cricketers also lost the services of opening batsman Adam Bacher, and kingpin all-rounder Lance Klusener was an early casualty.
Olympian Erica Green also withdrew from the women’s cycling squad, Gauteng’s Paul Clinton (air rifle) from the shooting team and experienced midfielder Michelle MacNaughton from the hockey team.
Of the entire team only five, including four bowlers, will travel to Kaula Lumpur to “defend” the medals they won in Canada four years ago.
Sepeng will be hoping to overcome the Kenyan threat – in 1994 it was Patrick Konchellah that outsprinted him for the gold – while Neil Burkett and Robbie Rayfield are the only remaining members of the team that won gold in the men’s fours.
Hester Bekker and Lorna Trigwell also swop 1994 partners Colleen Grondein and Anna Pretorius for Gauteng’s Loraine Victor and Western Cape’s Patricia Steyn.
Team South Africa will also leave on Friday with almost the same number of athletes that competed in the first six Commonwealth Games between 1930 and 1958 combined – 255 to the 210. In that time South Africa had won 150 medals (60 gold, 45 silver and 45 bronze) before the introduction of the sports boycott saw them excluded until 1994.