Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 119, June 2019 | Page 36

SPORT MAN
Says
By
Manfred Seidler
The Way to the Top
South Africa may be on the right path to returning to its previous high place in the world of road running, thanks to a few
local road races that are changing the way our local athletes think about racing.
Half Marathon Championships. On both occasions,
it was his arch-rival, former 10,000m World Record
holder, Paul Tergat of Kenya, who just got the better of
Ramaala at those Championships.
Complacency?
Today, the South African Flag is being flown by
brilliant runners such as Stephen Mokoka, Elroy
Gelant and Desmond Mokgubu, but South Africa
in general has somewhat ‘fallen from grace’ in the
world of road running. The question is, why is South
Africa no longer making waves on the global stage?
After all, our current athletes do have the opportunity
to compete against the best in the world, just as
Ramaala, Syster, Thys and Thugwane had. So what
has changed?
When Sinqe beat Mtolo in an epic race at the SA
Marathon Championships in 1986, his time of 2:08:04
was the fifth-fastest time ever run. Ever, as in the
history of the sport. Meanwhile, Mtolo’s 2:08:15
was the 14 th -fastest on the all-time list. A year later,
Temane and Sinqe shared a then World Best time for
the half marathon of 60:11 – in spite of South Africa
being isolated from global competition.
South Africa was seen as a powerhouse of running
during their era, and in later years that mantle fell to
the likes of Gert Thys, Ian Syster, Josia Thugwane,
Hendrick Ramaala and Shadrack Hoff. They all
had the opportunity to race against international
competition, which helped them in their endeavours
to compete with the best in the world. Ramaala
twice spearheaded a winning SA team at the World
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ISSUE 119 JUNE 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
You could argue that the win has always been the only
thing that matters, and you would not be wrong, but
the very nature of racing in SA changed when prize
money became less. That saw a drop in the desire
to race hard for fast times. After all, why should an
athlete race hard for a smaller prize purse and then
not be recovered for the next race a week later? s a
very simplistic way of explaining it, the principle does
apply. And the drop in performances overall in SA saw
a drop in invitations from international races, which
created an unfortunate cycle of standards declining
still further. It wasn’t all doom and gloom, of course.
There seemed to be a resurgence on the women’s
front, thanks to the Spar Ladies’ series, but very few
athletes were able to push on from there and become
internationally competitive.
Of course, it is important to note that South Africa is
not the only country battling to make an impression
on the international front. Kenya, Ethiopia and lately
Uganda are dominating the global rankings, and the
rest of the world, including South Africa, are lagging
behind. However, South Africa cannot and should not
worry about the rest of the world, only about its own
standards. And given the rich history of South African
road running, we should be concerned. At this point
M
ark Plaaitjies, Wille Mtolo, Rami Tsebe, David
Tsebe, Matthews ‘Loop n Val’ Motshwarateu,
Zithulele Sinqe, Xolile Yawa, Mathews
Temane, Elana Meyer, Colleen De Reuck, Frith van
Der Merwe, Zola Budd... These are names that
resonate with the South African athletics community.
Why? Because they were trailblazers. Because they
challenged and beat some of the best athletes in
the world at the time they were racing. (Or they ran
spectacular times during the era of isolation that
would have won many an international race.)
The highly successful years of SA running had
something in common: Deep competition. And it was
an era when athletes regularly chased faster times.
However, over the years it seemed that times became
less important in the South African road running
scene, and instead it was only the win that mattered.
With more and more races cropping up across the
country, and prize money decreasing, the races lost
their edge at the front end.