Johannesburg - As another IAAF World Athletics Championships looms, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to predict just how Team South Africa will fare. Our athletes have been consistently poor at the global event and there is little to suggest that this year will be different.
To expect more than a handful of medals would be stretching things. For Pete’s sake, we probably should organise a ticker-tape parade should the 40-member-strong team bring home more than five medals.
And, believe me, I’m a patriot who loves the sport and am wishing that those wearing our green and gold will do well in Eugene, Oregon, when the championships begin on July 15.
I’m crossing my fingers that Wayde van Niekerk has fully overcome his injury woes and will produce something close to that scintillating run at the 2016 Olympics when he set the 400m world record from the outside lane.
Even if he does not reach those great heights, my hope is that he manages a repeat of the 2017 London Championships when he brought home a 200m silver and a 400m gold, though this time he won’t be competing in the half-lap.
The 400m world record holder is *officially* back.
— Will Boling (@will_boling) July 3, 2022
Here’s Wayde van Niekerk’s 44.58 from our @americantrack broadcast last night. pic.twitter.com/qVMYHKAFkw
I’ve had the privilege of interviewing Akani Simbine and I know how much the young man loves representing his country and how badly he wants to bring home a major medal following years of failing to live up to the promise of his immense talent.
I’ve watched Shaun Maswanganyi grow from a schoolboy athlete to a potential international star and I’m aware that he would love a breakthrough in his adopted country, the US.
Ruswahl Samaai is in the squad again, but can he leap the length he did in 2017 to get into the medal positions?
The best we’ve ever done at the championships since our re-admission post-apartheid were those six medals from the London Games when Samaai, Wayde, Caster Semenya and Luvo Manyonga shone bright.
That we followed that good showing with zero medals at the 2019 Championships in Doha talks to a serious dropping of standards, and the hope is that Athletics South Africa (ASA), being under new management, will have done enough to make things better for our athletes.
After all, the only way after that poor showing in Qatar is up, right?
ASA president James Moloi didn’t do much to enthuse us with confidence and an eagerness to excitedly anticipate the championships, though.
When he announced the team, there was very little in his speech to suggest that he believes we will bring back home a bagful of medals, Moloi choosing instead to use the words ‘honour’ and ‘glory’ to describe what the team will be out to do.
The reality is that it is about time that our athletes shone on the world stage. The likes of Van Niekerk and Simbine could well be participating in their swansong championships and what better way to get off the stage than with a bang.
Luxolo Adams has been in top form in the Diamond League and many South Africans will be expecting much from him. The athlete himself is keen to shine following years of under-achievement precipitated by injuries, and his coach has said that the athlete is ready to shine.
The team that will carry our flag in Oregon is teeming with young athletes with the likes of Prudence Sekgodiso no doubt eager to show that she is the one to take over the mantle from the great Semenya.
What a breakthrough!
— Continental Tour Gold (@ContiTourGold) May 7, 2022
South Africa's Prudence Sekgodiso beats world champion Halimah Nakaayi and smashes her personal best 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦
1:58:41 WL pic.twitter.com/cUWyjlvzhk
Many will say the country should not put too much pressure on the 20-year-old to bring home a medal but rather that she should be allowed to gain experience.
And therein lies the key to our being an under-achieving nation in sports – our belief that athletes should be older to perform. Why send them to the major events, then, if we are not expecting them to shine?
Wasn’t American Athing Mu only 19 last year when she smashed the 800m at the Olympics? I rest my case.
The reality is that I am excitedly anticipating the championships and am choosing to remain hopeful that we will do well. I dare you to prove me right, Team South Africa.