With only three weeks to go before the World Athletic Championships in Paris, the national governing body, Athletics South Africa (ASA), found itself in a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t†situation when it announced the core participating team.
The athletes who have been consulted in the build-up to the two-week event that gets under way on August 23 have been mumbling about the selection criteria. A senior athlete, who asked not to be named, was highly critical of the entire process.
‘It is absolutely bullshit. You first have to make the ASA standard and then the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) standard, yet there are still people who make it into the team on the basis of what they call ‘development’.
‘The world championships is not the place to do this. When [these amateur athletes] get out on the track and see 40 000 people staring at them, they are going to freeze. And the management sucks — what [does it] know about looking after top athletes?â€
The ASA has gone out on a limb to make the team as large as possible, despite its reported lack of funds. ‘We have had to go into an overdraft situation to get this team to Paris, but if that is what we have to do to win medals, then we will do it,†said CEO Banele Sindani.
The governing body has even gone as far as selecting South Africa’s wayward son, Hezekiel Sepeng, who did not meet the local participation criteria, as has happened on several occasions in the past.
The former Potchefstroom Boys scholar and Atlanta Olympic silver medallist has been given more than his fair share of the proverbial nine lives, and it seems the ASA has extended the lifeline to him once again.
‘The [ASA] board stressed that as one of the senior and most respected athletes in our country, Sepeng ought to be seen to be leading by example. He cannot behave as a rogue and do as he pleases,†said Sindani.
For the ASA, a major concern was the lack of female athletes (just five) in the 26-person team. Sindani did not have an answer to this dilemma, deflecting the query by suggesting this was not only a local problem but an international one.
Another concern that indicates the ASA’s renewed interest in looking after its athletes is that it is closely monitoring the progress of hammer thrower Chris Harmse, who has not achieved the qualifying standard because of illness.
It even went out of its way to accommodate the athlete’s resolution not to compete on a Sunday (for religious reasons) by pulling strings to ensure that the finals would not be held that day. But then Harmse developed bronchitis, lost weight and now his form may not make the cut.
‘If Harmse can just make the B- standard, we will include him. We owe it to him, he has sacrificed so much for the sport in the past. This may be extended to a few other athletes if they can make the grade,†said coaching co-ordinator Carl Preller.
Since 1997 South Africa has produced two champions and three silver medallists at world champ-ionships. Marius Corbett delivered gold in 1997 in the javelin event, and more recently, in 2001, Hestrie Cloete won the high jump.