C o l u m n
ASK YOURSELF WHY
SA Still Missing Out
Of those 565 SA races , only eight were listed on the Global Ranking calendar , and four of these were actually added automatically through their Label status , meaning that just four race organisers actually applied ! Now consider that there were close to 20 races in SA where numerous men and women bettered the 31:30 and 39:00 ranking criteria for 10km , let alone other distances , and you start to see how many ranking point opportunities were denied to our athletes . ( I know that the information about the ranking system was disseminated to Technical Officials at least once at a national forum , but it appears they did not carry this to a provincial level , or share this with all the clubs that are race organisers .)
Stephen Mokoka leads the SA men in the first 2024 World Rankings
Elite Athlete Programme
The Label programme is particularly important for elite athletes , as they not only win good money , but also earn world rankings points . This not only determines if they are ranked as Elite , Gold or Platinum athletes , which impacts their earning power in appearance and sponsorship , but also counts towards their selection for World and Olympic championship events . Qualification to these events is now based on 50 % of the field from ranking lists , with the remaining 50 % selected by federations , providing the athletes have made the qualifying times .
For example , the 2024 Paris Olympics will have only 80 marathon places , 40 of which will come from the ranking system . Stephen Mokoka is the only South African to make the first 2024 list of Platinum ( 31 ) and Gold Label ( 107 ) athletes , so he will automatically qualify for Paris , with the other two SA team members needing to qualify through a single performance before the cut-off date .
Performance points are boosted in Label races as a result of the competitive status , and the same is true for Continental , National and other prestigious events . The higher the status of race , the more points an athlete earns , even if the time is the same . Still , it is clearly difficult for emerging African athletes to gain Label and qualification status , as they are currently forced to undertake inter-continental travel to reach events where conditions and competition assist them to achieve the required performance levels , but that is now offset by another initiative by World Athletics .
Similar challenges appear throughout Africa , and other areas , with only the European federations apparently currently grasping the appreciation of the points system . The table below indicates the number of Road Races on the global ranking calendar for 2023 .
443 Europe 173 Asia 98 North & Central America 79 South America 39 Africa 28 Oceania
Africa has 54 ( just over 25 %) of the 214 World Athletics member countries , but offers just 4.5 % of the world ’ s current points-scoring events . Europe only has 51 countries , but offers more than 10 times the opportunities for athletes to earn points ! With its 565 races , South Africa could be a game-changer for much of the African continent , and our races could benefit from the additional international attraction . However , keep in mind that while federations must provide the information , knowledge and procedures , the application must primarily be driven by race organisers .
Thankfully , things are looking up for 2024 , with 15 of our SA events already registered on the ranking list . And while it ’ s good to see the entire Absa RUN YOUR CITY 10km series and a couple of the SPAR Women ’ s 10km events on that list , it ’ s even better to see the Scottburgh 21km and 10km , the Capital City Marathon , and the Sweet Hill 10km also on the list . We need to celebrate these club events embracing the points system , which will benefit our athletes , but there are around 400 more SA races that should still be submitting applications . Still , as we kick off 2024 , it is exciting to see all the wonderful opportunities for both events and athletes !
Ranking Performances
From January 2023 , World Athletics opened ranking of performances to any road race that was measured by a World Athletics-graded measurer , and sanctioned by the national federation . The table below gives the minimum performance requirements at various distances that athletes needed to meet in 2023 in order to score rankings points :
Distance Men Women
5km 15:20 18:30 10km 32:30 39:00 15km 54:00 1:05:00 21.1km 1:12:00 1:27:00 42.2km 2:37:00 3:05:00
Most 21km races in SA produce men ’ s times under 72 minutes , and most 10km will see at least a handful of women dip under 39 minutes . And since almost all road races in SA are sanctioned by a provincial athletic structure , and therefore by association , by ASA , which implies that the federation and clubs ensure the credibility of the times achieved , as the results must be signed off by qualified provincial technical officials , this means that almost all 565 road races in SA in 2023 could have been used to rank our better athletes .
Realistically , an event such as the Pinetown 25km , or the Sani Pass Marathon would not make the ranking , due to the difficulty of the course , but most of our events should be on that list . And since we often hear athletes complaining about the level of prize money , reward and recognition , these rankings points are a cost-effective means for organisers to provide additional benefit to the top runners . Ranking at world level can also be extended to National and Provincial level simply by going deeper with the time criteria . The tables are all accessible , and this would take most of the wrangling out of selection to national and provincial teams . Disappointingly , however , few race organisers in SA have applied to be ranking races .
The Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series has registered for World Rankings points
About the Author
Norrie represented Scotland and Great Britain in numerous ultra-distance events , then represented South Africa in triathlon . He is a World Athleticsaccredited coach and course measurer , and travels all over the world to work on events , including the Olympics . He has been appointed by World Athletics as Technical Delegate to a number of the world ’ s leading Label events in Africa , Asia and the Middle East . He has authored two books ( Everyman ’ s Guide to Distance Running and Every Beginner ’ s Guide to Walking & Running ), and counts 20 Comrades medals amongst his more than 150 ultra-marathon medals , as well as multiple wins at distances from 100km to 1000km . You can read more from him at www . coachnorrie . co . za .
Images : Action Photo , Tobias Ginsberg
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