SA’s poor showing and ensuing medal famine at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest must act as a wake-up call for the officials responsible for ensuring success on the world stage.
No medals and just one official top-eight place is simply not good enough for a nation blessed with abundant natural sporting talent.
Sadly, this lack of success at elite world events is not a new phenomenon and warning lights have been flashing for some time.
SA athletics has been on a steady decline and radical action needs to be taken if the country wants to be taken seriously on the international stage.
Athletics SA (ASA) has been described as a sinking ship and a top-level investigation into what went wrong in Budapest is needed ahead of the Paris Olympics in 2024.
A lack of podium finishes and SA’s position on the placings table must set alarm bells ringing at the headquarters of track and field.
The seventh spot by Wayde van Niekerk in the men’s 400m was the only official entry on World Athletics’ placings table, which measures all top-eight finishers.
With one point for the eighth position, two for seventh and so on until eight points for the first spot, SA were awarded just two points on the World Athletics placings table in Budapest, placing them second from bottom.
The previous lowest score was seven points in 1993, thanks to the eighth spot by long-jumper Francois Fouche, seventh in the women’s marathon by Frith van der Merwe and fifth in the men’s 800m by Hezekiel Sepeng.
The highest was 52 points and eight placings in London 2017, followed by 38 points and nine placings in Paris 2003.
In only six years, South African athletics has slumped from its pinnacle to its lowest point in world athletics.
Ahead of Paris 2024, the World Relays in the Bahamas in May will offer the most qualification spots, and ASA needs to start co-ordinating training camps with athletes before their personal season schedules are finalised.
ASA needs to be fast out of the starting blocks if it is to have any hope of fixing this mess.
HeraldLIVE