Unhappy games as Asia chokes on African muscle

New colours. . . . Femi Seun Ogunode was born in Ondo state, Nigeria, but now runs for Qatar on the Arabian Peninsula 

For the past decade some Asian countries, especially on the Arabian Peninsula, had been beefing up their ranks in athletics with talent from Africa. These countries, more so Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, used the power of the petro-dollar to lure gifted athletics from poor African countries and offered them "a better life" in exchange for these athletes forsaking their nationalities.

Kenya and Ethiopia were the biggest targets, given their well-known talent pools in middle distance running. Though the attitude initially was that Africa will not be crippled by the Arabs' poaching, that notion changed in 2003 when Stephen Cherono left for Qatar. Kenya and Africa were shaken because Cherono was among the brightest prospects to come out of this continent at the time. He had already won the 1999 World Youth Champion in the steeplechase and set a world junior record two years later. In 2002 he won the steeplechase gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games - all for Kenya.

Then in 2003 Cherono, aged just 20, moved to Qatar and changed his name to  to Saif Saaeed Shaheen. While some reports said he received up to US$1 million to become a Qatari citizen, while others said it was merely for a monthly stiped of $1,000.

The truth is that after Cherono the exodus to Arabia was heightened, much to Africa's irritation. But as seen in the ongoing Asia Games, the irritation is now affecting other Asia countries, as Africans dominate the track. It is no longer a middle distances thing as Nigeria-born  Nigeria-born Femi Seun Ogunode broke the hearts of Chinese and Japanese runners to claim gold for Qatar and the new Asian 100m record in the Games in Korean city of Incheon.

Similarly, Ethiopian-born Maryam Yusuf Jamal was peerless on Monday claiming the women’s 1500m gold, while the Moroccan-born pair of Mohamad Al-Garni and Rashid Ramzi finished one-two in the men’s race. Al-Garni also claimed the 5000m gold in the games. . . all for Qatar.

 “It’s unfair because they are taller and have a longer stride,” men’s 100 metre silver medallist Su Bingtian lamented after the race. “They are more powerful and athletic. Physically we are at a disadvantage.” 

Made in Africa. . .  Gold medalist, Mohamad Al Garni of Qatar (Morocco-born) is flanked by silver medalist Alemu Bekele Gebre of Bahrain (Ethiopia-born), right, and bronze medalist Albert Kibichii Rop of Bahrain (Kenya-born) at the model ceremony for the men's 5000m race in the Asia Games on September 27 in Incheon, South Korea

Japan’s Kei Takase, who finished third in the 100m, talked of the Africans setting the bar  “higher and higher" in what was supposed to be a regional Olympics for Asian athletes.

But even more shocking is the speed with which imported Africans are allowed to compete as Asians. Earlier this year Nigerian-born Oluwakemi Mujidat Adekoya became a Bahraini. A few months later she wins the women’s 400m gold in Asia Games.

As disturbing as it may sound, for both continents, there's a school of thought in Asia that the influx of Africans may not necessarily discourage home-grown talent but encourage it to up their game. But as Su Bingtian of China observes, the African imports with "their longer legs" are an unfair advantage. Maybe yes, maybe no.

However, from the African perspective, we have to look hard at our misuse of resources, lack of support for development and rewards for elite athletes. This is where the rot lies, which  makes our sportsmen and women restless and end up belonging to other continents.

Flying the flag. . . Nigerian-born Oluwakemi Mujidat Adekoya became a citizen of Bahrain a few months before winning the women’s 400m gold in Asia Games

SA's unsung heroes in track and field

At his best. . . Cornel Fredericks has done enough to be a contender for 2014 Sportsman of the Year in South Africa.

There was plenty of good for South African athletics in the international arena this year, even though the overriding picture having been that of a country in recess in this great sport.

The good was the emergence of one-lap hurdler Cornel Fredericks being the man to beat in the world in this discipline, having taken the accolades in all major events this year. Apart from the Commonwealth Games gold, Fredericks also grabbed back-to-back titles in the Moroccan city of Marrakech - in the Africa championships in August and in the IAAF Continental Cup last weekend.

Even though he was the only South African athlete to secure a gold medal in an individual event at the two-day competition in north Africa, several other countrymen and woman raised the flag high.
Sunette Viljoen, simply the first lady of SA track and field, threw another silver-winning  in the javelin, just as she did in the Commonwealth Games crown and the African title he won in the Moroccan city last month.

Long-jumper Zarck Visser emerged as a surprise package, given modest distances and places he had been receiving in the past four years. But his first gold medal at world level last week in the Continenental Cup underscored the age-old matra that practice makes perfect. Before 2014, Visser's best effort internationally was the second place at 2012 African championships in Porto Novo, Benin. He achieved that with a modest jump of just 7.98m, but more hard work produced a world class 8.32m, Visser's personal best so far, at the elite Weltklasse meet in Zurich a year later (29 August 2013).

Then came the glorious 2014, which started with Visser winning his third successive SA title during the national championships at Pilditch, Pretoria. On that day, April 11, his performance was roudly lauded by the media as the best of the day, even though his 8.31m jump was still a little shy of the national mark of 8.50m.

He followed that up with a silver at the Commonwealth Games and gold at the Continetal Cup last week.
At 25 Visser is in his prime as a long-jumper, and so far has shown the attitude and form required to overhaul Khotso Mokoena's record. Even more interesting, the two are now training partners. More remarkable is the unforeseen comeback of Mokoena, albeit in triple jump, his second favourite discipline.

Apart from the gold in Glasgow, and silver in Marrakech, Mokoena grabbed also won the long jump contest in the Diamond League series. All this marked a glorious return from injuries-induced layoff for one of SA's favourite sons in sport. The lanky lad from Heidelberg crowned  a magnificent season last Sunday by smashing his own national triple jump record, a 10cm improvement to 17.35m.
"I'm very pleased with the record. I'm also pleased with a second place and I feel truly blessed," a modest Mokoena said in Marrakech.

This trio - Fredericks, Visser and Mokoena - are already way ahead of their peers as early candidates for the sportsman of the year award, despite very little coverage by the local media of the achievements above.
Last but not least, sprinter Wayde van Niekerk also stepped on the podium in Marrakech, after anchoring the African quartet to gold in the men's 4x400m relay final.

At 22, Van Niekerk, a 200m and 400m specialist, represents the future even though his international career has already begun. This year already he's the SA 400m champion, he set the new national record (44.38 sec) over the same distance, and won silver in both the Commonwealth Games and African championships. Unfortunately, his emergence and that of a few other young athletes in South Africa are a small drop in the ocean for a country which used to be a force to be reckoned with in track and field.

The biggest loss, as witnessed in the Commonwealth Games, is the dearth of talent in South Africa in the middle distances spectrum - 800m, 1500m, 3000m steeplechase, 5000m and 10000m. What makes this picture look bleaker is the absence of any visible plan by the  authorities - from government to the Olympic movement Sascoc - to revive SA's culture of middle distance running.

One can only imagine if such programme was in place, what would have happened for SA in Glasgow and Marrakech. . .

Sadly, the places which used to provide the bulk of running talent in these disciplines are now humstrung by substance abuse, and forbidding social ills which make it hard for girls to even play any sport they wish to play.

Let Bafana revival begin

Brave new world. . . 17-year-old Rivaldo Coetzee is the youngest among several young players new South Africa coach Shakes Mashaba is hoping to rebuild the fortunes of Bafana Bafana 

It's a new brave world for the South African national team after a decade or more of underachieving as new coach Shakes Mashaba begins his new tenure on Friday. 
Playing in Sudan is not the kind of start any new coach with an untested squad would wish for, especially without the benefit of a preparation match in a form of a friendly international. But that's how the game at this level rolls. Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers  is serious business, more so for countries  who wish to be counted among the best football nations.

This is not hard to fathom, if you look at it in these terms: for a country like SA to fail to qualify for the Afcon, then it simply means we have no right to say anything smart about African football. What would qualify us? Before benefiting from hosting the 2013 edition, South Africa had failed to qualify for two consecutive editions - 2010 Angola and 2012 Gabon/Equatorial Guinea. The 2013 tournament marked the changeover  from even numbered years which clashed with World Cup years, to odd numbers; hence 2015 is next on the list.
There's so much hope in Mashaba that he will revive Bafana Bafana. His first squad selection points to the beginning of a new era, something which should have happened under his predecessor Gordon Igesund ahead of the CHAN tournament which South Africa hosted in January this year. In the blog published on February 10, 2014 we asked why Igesund overlooked the success of the national under-20, the obvious base of his future work as Bafana coach? At the time his team had just spectacularly imploded  in the CHAN, which is by many degrees below the Afcon.

In the same blog, headlined "CHAN failure points to SA's lack of development vision", we highlighted Igesund mistake for working without future stars in the form of Ayabulela Magqwaka, 19,Rivaldo Coetzee, 17, the Under-20 kingpins, and some of their teammates.
Mashaba responded in the manner that assured the nation, by calling up the the Ajax Cape Town pair, as well as their junior national teammates such as keeper Dumisani Msibi and midfielder  Nhlakanipho Ntuli.
It is such brevity and foresight that has made Mashaba the most successful coach of the national teams in South Africa. Lest we forget, he had already qualified SA for the 2004 Tunisia Afcon when the SA Football Association fired him weeks ahead of the tournament, just because he refused to yield to his bosses' pressure to select players who were never part of his squad during the qualifiers.

Sudan will provide a formidable challenge to Mashaba and his charges as they start out for 2015 Morocco. But there can never be a lighter challenge in the overall quest for SA football to rise up from the ashes and shine again.
So much weight is being put on the heat factor in Omdurman. But to be successful in Africa, this team will have to overcome the worst there is on their path, including hair-raising rides to places like Congo-Brazzaville later on.

Vasbyt boys, time to rise up and be counted among men.