Grant Shimmin OLYMPICS
When Josia Thugwane won the marathon title at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, it was a victory that came out of the blue, for the world of road running and for South Africans in general. He might have been the national marathon champion and have won several times in and out of the country, but conventional wisdom said Gert Thys was the man to carry South African hopes and few, except those really close to this quiet young man with a love for the loneliness of the open road, gave Thugwane a second thought.
They’ve given him a few since then, but in the past couple of years, many of those thoughts have been about whether the diminutive Olympic champion is past his sell-by date. I mean, he’s already 29, you know. The speculation has been largely a result of a fairly patchy record since he set a new South African record in Fukuoka, Japan, in December 1997, but there’s been a reason behind it and it’s a reason which should provide immense motivation for the enormous task ahead, trying to repeat his Atlanta feat.
It’s something only achieved twice before, by Ethiopian Abebe Bikila and East German Waldemar Cierpinski. Certainly, the element of surprise which so clearly worked in Thugwane’s favour four years ago is no longer there.
Thugwane, though, is a man who runs with his heart and he’s got extra reason this year. His manager, Jacques Malan, who has been at his side since before Atlanta, has liver cancer and the prognosis is not good. “It’s had a major effect on him. We’re very, very close,” Malan said this week. “But at the beginning of the year, I told Josia and Lawrence (Peu) to forget about my illness. I told them that if they run well, they make me happy and the happier I am, the more chance I have of being able to fight this illness effectively.”
That message took hold before last month’s London Marathon, where Thugwane qualified for Sydney. He had Malan there to support him, but his manager is unlikely to be able to travel much with him in future. “He knows that from now, there’ll be a lot less travelling with him,” said Malan, whose attention must now be on his own battle. Clearly, his condition will be a major motivation for Thugwane.
While South Africa’s first black Olympic gold medallist and his team-mates, Hendrick Ramaala and Johannes Maremane, are sure of their places in Sydney after being named on Wednesday, the real qualifying fight is only just beginning for many of their track and field counterparts.
The provisional track and field squad contains numerous names who are virtual certainties for Sydney. The only stipulation they must still fulfil is to achieve the tough Athletics South Africa (ASA) standards in the lead-up to the Games to prove their fitness. That will bring them under the National Olympic Committee’s (Nocsa) consideration and provided fitness testing reveals no injuries, they’ll be on the plane.
Included among those are sure to be medal contenders like Hezekiel Sepeng, an 800m silver medallist in Atlanta, hurdler Llewellyn Herbert, shot putter Burger Lambrechts, javelin thrower Marius Corbett, high jumper Hestrie Cloete and several more who enjoy high world rankings.
The real adventure, though, will be for those who make up a team that ASA will send to a series of meetings in Europe in July. They’ll be the ones who don’t automatically crack invites to the major European meetings, where athletes have to go well beyond ASA’s standards just to be competitive.
Aside from looking to achieve the ASA standards as an important first step to selection, those team members will have to keep in mind that Nocsa will be looking to take track athletes who can go at least as far as the semi-finals in Sydney. In field events, where there is a single qualifying round, the potential to make the final is likely to be the key.
So someone like national sprint king Mathew Quinn will know he needs to improve on his 10,19 seconds in the 100m in Cape Town on March 31, because while that’s a good time, especially at the coast, it’s unlikely to be good enough to progress through two rounds of 100m competition, especially when the timetable makes provision for 11 first-round heats.
Quinn is just one of a number of athletes who face the greatest challenge of their careers just for the privilege of lining up in Sydney. Those who do will know they’ve really earned their places.
ENDS