South Africa might struggle to match their previous achievements when the eighth edition of the All Africa Games starts in Abuja, Nigeria, on Saturday.
In 1999, on home soil, South Africa swept all before them, winning 184 medals and breaking continental records in several sports. This time around the team has been dogged by injuries and withdrawals, particularly among athletes.
But the men’s and women’s hockey teams will be determined to fly the country’s flag high. The All Africa Games are vital for both as they are used as qualifiers to the Olympic Games next year in Athens.Â
Both teams missed out on Sydney 2000, but for different reasons. Political issues around development and representivity prevented the men’s team going to Australia, while the women’s team failed to qualify.
South Africa’s hockey players will be defending gold medals they won in Johannesburg four years ago, though they will come up against different quality opponents.
The general manager of South African hockey, Paul Richards, said the toughest match for the men would be against Egypt, who have played more international matches than South Africa. For the women’s team there would be no strong opposition as the standard of hockey in Africa is not that high.
Among the events in which South Africans have shown dominance, but in which they will not be able to defend their gold medals due to the athletes’ withdrawal, will be the high jump. Hestrie Cloete and Jacques Freitag, who both won gold at the recent athletics world championships in Paris, will not be going to Abuja.
Among other reasons cited for the spate of withdrawals are studies for end-of-year examinations and work commitments.