long season
Michael Finch
As South Africa returned from the World Athletics Championships this week, the issue of why they failed to perform in Seville was the subject of endless debates.
Having won two medals at the 1997 Worlds in Athens, this time it was only Hezekiel Sepeng’s silver and two national records in the men’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay that lifted gloomy spirits.
Last week, Athletics South Africa (ASA) chief executive officer Banele Sindani called the team “a bunch of sissies” and made it clear that the structure of the current South African season was not to blame for poor performances.
But after a weekend in which medal hopes Marius Corbett in the javelin, world number one Hestrie Cloete in the high jump and Johan Botha in the 800m all failed to reach their respective finals, it became clear that a long season was only part of the problem.
Before the championships even started, problems began. The first blow came when athletes were presented with sub-standard training and competition kit, more suitable at a high school meet, after ASA failed to reach agreement with a clothing sponsor for the team.
“It was terrible stuff,” one athlete remarked. “It was a pretty major thing for everyone. I think everyone just felt flat when we saw the kit. It was almost as if no one cared about us.”
Then came the news that the athletes would only be receiving $220 as an allowance for the entire championships, an amount which is far less than is usually given.
The reason: they needed the rest of the money to pay for kit.
Add the fact that the final team was only officially announced in the week before they left for the training camp in Barcelona, and it becomes clear that South Africa’s off-the-track problems were more than just logistical headaches.
To add fuel to the fire, there was also sadness in joy for Sepeng. Having just being pipped at the post by Wilson Kipketer in the final of the 800m, Sepeng had to do his victory lap without a South African flag because one was simply not provided.
It is tradition for the medallists to drape themselves in their country’s flag during the lap of honour after the race.
On the flip side, athletes like team captain Arnaud Malherbe, who excelled as a diplomat throughout the tour, still maintained that there was no excuses for bad performances.
“This is the professional era and professional athletes cannot make excuses,” the national 400m record holder said.
“In future athletes will need to look at the structure of their seasons and pace themselves better.
“That’s what I did wrong this year. I simply raced too hard during the European season.”
Sindani, acutely aware of the impact a losing team has on the sport, said that ASA would announce a plan by the end of October aimed at having more control over the training schedules of top athletes.
“We need to be more proactive in the training of our athletes,” Sindani admitted.
“But we must take some lessons from this trip and learn from them.”