South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker won gold at the Olympics in Tokyo on Friday, setting the tone for Uganda and Ethiopia following on the leader board. With more events still to unfold, there is still room for strong showings.



South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker brought home the continent’s first gold medal on Friday, in the process smashing the world record for the women’s 200m breaststroke, with a finishing time of 2:18.95.



The 24-year old became the first female South African swimmer to win gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in a quarter of a century, delivering a supreme performance to finish ahead of America’s Lilly King and Annie Lazor. Emotional at her victory, Schoenmaker was still in the water when she saw the scoreboards indicate she had set a new world record, and shrieked with delight before being congratulated by her rivals, and earning her second medal for the games so far after having won the silver in the women’s 100m breaststroke earlier in the week. Schoenmaker received a surprise congratulatory phone call from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday after her victory. Given the tumultuous few weeks the country has seen, the president had some supportive and unifying words for the swimmer, who was strongly celebrated back home.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="736" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1331501475-1024x736.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-52007" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1331501475-1024x736.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1331501475-300x216.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1331501475-768x552.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1331501475-1536x1104.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1331501475-2048x1472.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>TOKYO, JAPAN &#8211; JULY 30: Gold Medalist Tatjana Schoenmaker of South Africa during the medal ceremony of the 200m Breaststroke final on day seven of the swimming competition of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre on July 30, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



 “You have lifted the country,” said Ramaphosa in a recording of the clip released by the Presidency, “Thank you so much. It was just unbelievable. You have done this for the country and for yourself and we honour you &#8230; we are really delighted to have seen this unbelievable performance.&#8221; South Africa leads the continent’s medals at the games so far, which has seen Ethiopia’s Selemon Berega win gold for the men’s 10,000m, and Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei set world records in three different events at the games so far. South Africa currently stands at one gold and two silver medals, Uganda with one silver and one bronze, and Ethiopia with one gold. With many of the athletics events still to come, there is still plenty of room for the teams to bring more success and glory to their countries.

Swimming – Olympics: Day 7

Making A Splash And More Glory

Chad le Clos recently returned from the Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast, where he grew his legend further with three gold medals, a silver and a bronze.
He has now set his sights on the World Swimming Championships in Hangzhou, China, in December, as well as the next Olympics in Tokyo in two years’ time, where he expects to face greater challengers as a new group of young swimmers emerge.
The 26-year-old’s favorite medal from the Commonwealth Games did not come from his individual haul of golds, but was rather the bronze he collected in the 4 x 100-meter medley race, which gives an insight into his psyche. Swimming is mostly an individual sport, but Le Clos is clearly a team player.
“Truthfully, the best race for me was the relay on the final day when we got the bronze,” Le Clos tells FORBES AFRICA.
<div id="attachment_36525" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36525" class="wp-image-36525 size-large" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/GettyImages-628143522-1024x729.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="729" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/GettyImages-628143522-1024x729.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/GettyImages-628143522-300x214.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/GettyImages-628143522-600x427.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/GettyImages-628143522-768x547.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/GettyImages-628143522.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> Chad le Clos is thinking of life outside of the pool and hoping to launch swimming academies across South Africa. Photo Provided.</div>
“We had guys that weren’t meant to be swimming in those events, they were specialists in other disciplines.
“Earlier, we had finished sixth or seventh [in the heats], so to touch in third ahead of Scotland in the final was amazing and it felt like a gold medal to me.
“It was really tough, but the guys put it together when it mattered and that makes it really special.”
Le Clos confirmed his status as South Africa’s premier athlete in the pool with golds in the 50-, 100- and 200-meter butterfly events, as well as a silver in the 100-meter freestyle.
“The butterfly treble was great because nobody has done that before and it was a big goal of mine. To win my third consecutive 200-meter butterfly gold was also very special as it means I have now been Commonwealth Games champion for eight years, which is a big achievement.
“So from a personal point of view I was happy with my individual achievements, though I also believe that we should have medalled in the 100-meter freestyle relay.
“But it was maybe not the team that should have gone, none were specialist 100-meter freestyle swimmers and although everybody did great times, it wasn’t enough, which was a big disappointment for me.”
Le Clos is already South Africa’s most decorated Olympian with a gold and three silver medals, a haul he is looking to add to in Tokyo, something he says will be increasingly difficult with a new generation of swimmers coming through.
“You can see them emerging and wonder how good they will be in two years,” Le Clos says.
“There is an 18-year-old Hungarian boy [Kristóf Milák] who is already just one second off the world record in the 200-meter butterfly. I think I will have to swim pretty close to the world record to get gold.
“But it is also exciting for world swimming and the sport. You need new stars and as an individual that pushes you to work even harder. It is a major source of motivation.”
Le Clos is no veteran, but he has already been in the South African swimming team for close to 10 years and is thinking of life outside of the pool with the recent launch of the Chad Le Clos Academy in his adopted hometown of Cape Town.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2015/03/01/swimming-against-the-tide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Swimming Against The Tide</a>
His dream is to have academies all over South Africa, as well as internationally, with five more planned to open before the end of the year.
“It has been a passion project of mine for the last five years and finally we have managed to get it off the ground,” he says.
“We want to start with kids as young as five years old, initially showing them how fun swimming can be before later on developing individual programs that will help them achieve their swimming goals.
“And those goals don’t have to be to make it to the Olympics. It might just be to swim for their school, or make it to the national finals. But obviously it is a dream of mine to develop boys and girls to swim for South Africa at the Olympics, that would just be unbelievable and something I would cherish for the rest of my life.”
Le Clos has helped develop the swimming program for the Academy, the first of which is based in Claremont in the Mother City, which he says is very different to how kids are traditionally trained in South Africa.
“I have always been of the opinion that we push kids too hard in their early years. So by the age of 17 or 18 they are burned out in the pool, or they have left the sport before then because it is all too much.
“The example I always use is if you have two boys, both aged 11, one is a swimmer and the other a rugby player.
“Traditionally, that swimmer would be in the pool doing 65 kilometers a week, the same training schedule as myself, Cameron van der Burgh or Tatjana Schoenmaker would do when we train for the Olympics.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2015/08/01/how-far-would-you-swim-to-conquer-your-fear/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: How Far Would You Swim To Conquer Your Fear?</a>
“But you would not ask that 11-year-old rugby player to train against The Beast [Springbok Tendai Mtawarira], it would be madness.
“So it is all about pacing the training correctly to ensure that our swimmers peak at the right age and continue to have the love for swimming. They must want to get into that pool, not see it as a chore and something they dread.
“We also teach the kids respect for the sport and respect for their coaches, no matter what background they come from or how talented they are. That is very important to me.”
The ongoing drought in Cape Town has scuppered plans for a purpose-built facility for the first academy, but that will come, according to Le Clos.
“There has been an amazing response so far and it is the program that we will franchise out. Hopefully we will have another five opening in the next six months all over South Africa.
“We will be training the coaches according to our program, and the hope is to take it international, but for now we just want to have it running smoothly in South Africa first.”
Le Clos believes he has another “six or eight” years left to compete in the pool and hopes one day to perhaps have one of his pupils as a national teammate.
“I said to my Dad [Bert] the other day how it would be a dream of mine to walk a kid to the Olympics. It would mean so much to me. Maybe that will happen while I am still on the national team, and we swim together, wouldn’t that be something?”
&#8211; Nick Said

OMEGA House Rio 2016 – Day 10

More Olympians In South Africa’s Pools

Michael Phelps is sprawled on a couch in a Lower Manhattan hotel, sporting a beard, a gray beanie
cap, a white T-shirt and Under Armour sweatpants and sneakers, an athlete in repose. He’s in New York to accept yet another lifetime achievement award for his triumphs in five Olympic Games, another chance for him and others to revel in his past glories. What Phelps wants to talk about now, however, is the future. “I’ve spent decades staring at that black line at the bottom of a pool,” he says.
“I’m ready to do something new. I’m ready to channel my competitiveness into something else.”
Phelps, 31, is four months removed from what he swears was his last Olympics. The second phase of his life has begun, he says, and it has two main parts: He wants to create a brand that burns brightly for decades to come, but he also wants to become a global champion for the causes that mean the most to him—swimming and the wellbeing of children.
On the brand side Phelps is, of course, well established as a corporate pitchman. Under Armour, Omega, Intel, Activision and Beats by Dre are among his well-known sponsors. (Some of the lesser known: Master Spas, Krave and Sina Sports.) At the height of these sponsorships he earned an estimated $7 million a year. Many of the companies are longtime partners and plan to stay that way. “We hope he’s with us forever,” says Kevin Plank, CEO of Under Armour, which signed Phelps in 2010.
But Phelps is not content simply to be the face of someone else’s brand. In 2013 he left his longtime sponsor Speedo, and the following year he started a swimwear line called MP. He found a partner in Aqua Sphere, a swimwear and swimming accessories company, which now sells Phelps-branded suits that range from $40 to $475. “I’d like to someday have the biggest and best brand in swimming,” he says.
His business role model is, of course, Michael Jordan, whose Nike Inc. Jordan Brand sold $2.8 billion worth of shoes and apparel last year.
Swimming obviously isn’t as merchandisable as basketball, but Plank says Phelps’ ambitions shouldn’t be dismissed: “Michael has that special trait, the ability to be clutch and win when it counts, which he demonstrated over and over at the Olympics. I think he can be the king of all things water.”
Phelps’ other main post-Olympics goal involves his foundation, which he started in 2008 with the $1 million bonus he earned from Speedo for his record-breaking eight gold medals in Beijing. His biggest initiative is the im program (“im” for “individual medley,” one of his strongest events, and for the affirmation “I am”). The program focuses on making children “water-safe.” (Drowning is the leading cause of injury-related deaths for kids ages 1 to 14 in the U.S. and the third leading cause worldwide.) Phelps’ mother made him take a water-safety course when he was a boy, and he says that’s the reason he became a competitive swimmer.
The im program has 104 teams in all 50 U.S. states and another 176 in 33 other countries, and through it 16,000 kids have learned how to swim (for three-quarters of them, the program was their first time in a pool). “I’d like for that number to be 50,000 someday soon and then 100,000,” Phelps says. “The goal is to get every kid in the world water-safe.”
To accomplish these dreams, Phelps will need to become a lasting global icon, no easy task for even the most successful Olympians. Jesse Owens, in the end, was more a powerful symbol than a brand. Muhammad Ali’s boxing career spanned two full decades after his Olympic gold in 1960. And Caitlyn Jenner remains famous four decades after decathlon heroics in Montreal but for reasons no one could have foreseen in 1976.
Yet Phelps was no ordinary Olympian. He began as a 15-year-old prodigy in the 2000 Games and provided a glimpse of the greatness to come in the 2004 Athens Games. Then came the triumph in Beijing in 2008 and the weary wins in London in 2012, followed by the drinking and depression and the stint in rehab. All of which culminated in the redemption in Rio in 2016. In the end Phelps had won an Olympic record 28 medals, all but 5 of which were gold.
That level of longevity and excellence in the Olympics has given Phelps the kind of global profile most American athletes lack. And with his longtime agent, Peter Carlisle, Phelps has been laying the groundwork for a global presence since the beginning of his career. He started visiting China and making deals there five years before the 2008 Games (the Chinese call him the Flying Fish). Phelps and Carlisle used the same playbook for Rio—he made four pre-Olympics visits to Brazil and has since signed a deal with the Brazilian media giant Grupo Globo. And he will soon embark on a tour of Vietnam, Ethiopia, South Africa and Latin America.
Phelps, of course, has been through this before, when he retired for the first time after the 2012 Games. “This time is different,” he says. “Back then I just wanted to dig the deepest black hole and be left alone.” Now “life is so different and so much better. I have Boomer [his 8-month-old son] and Nicole [his wife]. I have other things to worry about than just myself.”
Phelps says he travels three weeks out of every month, and at meetings he doesn’t just show up for the grip-and-grin but really dives in. “I’m actually sitting at the table now during the discussions, asking questions,” he says. “Some of this is self-reinforcing. I want to be out there now. If I isolate myself as I’ve done before, I know the road I’ll go down, and I know it won’t be pretty.”
A question remains: Is he really done competing? “Yes, definitely,” he says, while admitting that he said the same thing in 2012. The 2020 Olympics is out of the question, but Carlisle has been floating an intriguing scenario regarding the 2024 Games. “I think Michael is 100% sure he’s done right now,” he says. “But what if the 2024 Games are awarded to Los Angeles? And what if there was a spot open on a relay team?” Carlisle leaves the thought there, as any good agent would.
Phelps just smiles when this idea is brought up. “I’m happy now,” he says. “And I’m excited for what’s ahead of me.”

The Flip Turn

When Kirsty Coventry was nine years old, she told her parents, in humble Harare, she would win gold at the Olympics. Twenty three years later, the Zimbabwean is the most successful African Olympian and is preparing for her fifth Olympic Games; and she wants more.
“I have been waking up every morning before sunrise to train since I was six years old,” says the 32-year-old from her base in North Carolina, United States.
Many thought Coventry was finished after London 2012. This year she has been swimming faster than ever and is ripped and ready for Rio.
“I just performed my last big competition before Rio. It went really well. I walked away with five silvers and three bronzes. It’s important to note that at this stage in the game, it’s not what medals I am winning, but what times I am swimming. I got some season best times, so I’m happy with that but I can’t rest now, the field is open to anyone… I have to keep my focus on training.”
Coventry’s calendar is as full as an Olympic swimming pool. In a week she spends 18 hours in the pool and up to four sessions throwing weights in the gym.
“I will also try and add in one or two yoga sessions. Everything we do, in both pool and gym, is focused on quality sets. It’s a passion and when you are truly passionate about something then you will make the necessary sacrifices.”
“I never realized how tough it must have been to swim when I was younger. Our facilities are shocking compared to the rest of the world. But, I can’t complain because it has made me a stronger person&#8230; School was a place where I was teased and made fun of, my swimming club was a safe-haven for me because it was a place I excelled and could gain confidence,” says Coventry.
Coventry took a year off after London to reflect, before committing to Rio. It was hard to regain form.
“I was training with younger athletes who hadn’t taken a year off and, like most athletes, we all compare ourselves to each other and we are highly competitive so having my butt kicked everyday was soul destroying. I had to talk myself through every practice, to remind myself that I was still in the process. Every single day was a bad day. Waking up every morning knowing I was going to lose was terrible,” she says.
All it took was one good day.
“It was like a major reset that helped with the following endless bad days. The reset allowed me to keep pushing through and slowly the good days started appearing more and more until eventually I stopped celebrating the good days and started complaining about the odd bad day,” she says.
There may be merely a handful of Olympians who come back for more at the age of 32. Even fewer had the honor to carry their flag at the opening ceremony.
“Carrying the flag in the opening ceremony is such a privilege because in that moment you are not an athlete but a single representation of your entire nation. Zimbabwe often sends a small Olympic team but we get the loudest applause: we walk out second last, just before the host country, who start walking out as they announce Zimbabwe, and of course the stadium erupts as soon as they see their home country… we’ll take it.”
It’s rarer still to find an athlete with seven Olympic medals under their belt.
“One of the bad sides of winning multiple medals is that it becomes expected of you. There are a lot of people that expect this and it’s sad because suddenly making the Olympics isn’t as big a deal for them, as it should be.”
One of Coventry’s fondest memories was the day she called her parents when she won gold in Athens in 2004.
“My mum couldn’t talk, she just cried. My dad kept saying how proud he was. I don’t think anyone would have made sense of anything that was said between us – it was a beautiful moment that I was happy to share with the two people that had given everything to get me to this point.”
Growing up, Coventry spent a lot of time in the kitchen. The smell of her father’s oxtail and sadza is always a fond reminder of home. Coventry is a proud foodie and cooks hearty meals.
“Fresh produce is delicious – you do not need to smother it with processed junk. My favorite dish to make is pork chops with Aromat and spinach with mashed potato. I have also just recently made my own bread from our own homemade starter (yeast).”
For Coventry it isn’t always about training and eating, it’s also about avoiding. Coventry takes a firm hand when it comes to doping in sport; she has openly criticized the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) for their lack of enforcement of those being caught.
“The International Olympic Committee and Wada have taken recent steps to retest all medal winners from 2008 and 2012 [caught doping] and this does give me some hope. I don’t think it will be a level playing field in Rio but I’m confident that anyone who has doped and continues to dope will be caught. The problem this has for the clean athletes is that they lose out on standing on the podium, watching their flag being raised and possibly earning a far greater sponsorship.”
Some do not escape the long arm of the anti-doping law. In June, tennis star Maria Sharapova tested positive for meldonium, a drug prescribed for heart disease patients to treat inadequate blood flow, which was put on Wada’s list of banned drugs.
“Yet another twist in the epic saga between scandal and sport. While Sharapova’s violation was declared unintentional, she was nonetheless found guilty of negligently contravening the (World Anti-Doping) Code,” says Shweta Mani, Head of Legal and Compliance at CNBC Africa.
As you read this, Coventry will be in the pool for her last minute training for Rio.
“It’s not just my training that has evolved since my first Olympics in 2000 but everything has evolved: my body, my mind, my attitude. I turned 17 at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and I’m entering my fifth Olympics aged 32. I remember being crushed with massive sets during my college years (2001-2005). I would literally be bruised from some of the gym work. It certainly was a military-style boot camp of sorts. Don’t get me wrong, some of the workouts I do now will still make me heave but this comes more from an internal desire to push harder rather than the external motivation from the coach.”
Coventry may have caused a few ripples in her pool in Harare at the age of nine; she is likely to make a bigger splash in Rio.

How Pain, Bullying And A Pork Chop Can Get You To Gold

My uncle died after drowning in the bathtub during one of his epileptic fits. Four high school students were crossing a river in a canoe on their way to school at the beginning of the year. The canoe tipped over and the children fell out. An elderly man nearby managed to save one, but the other three drowned. A day before, Mufaro Matemba, an 8-year-old boy, disappeared during their school break-time. The teachers searched the school desperately, but it was only much later when someone finally inspected the swimming pool when they realized what happened. On the edge of the pool was his little pile of clothes as his body lay motionless in the water. These are different stories with the same tragic outcomes. All could have been prevented.
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In 2014, the World Health Organization created the first-ever Global Report on Drowning dedicated exclusively to drowning. The statistics will shock you:
<ul>
<li>372,000 people die from drowning every year</li>
<li>there are approximately 42 drowning deaths every hour</li>
<li>the drowning death toll is almost two thirds that of malnutrition and well over half that of malaria</li>
<li>Drowning is one of the 10 leading causes of death for people between the ages of one and 24 in every region of the world</li>
<li>Globally, over half of all drowning deaths are among those under the age of 25</li>
<li>Males are twice as likely to drown as females</li>
<li>Drowning rates in low- and middle-income countries are over three times higher than in high-income countries</li>
<li>Alcohol use around water is an important risk factor for drowning in many countries, especially for adolescents and adults</li>
</ul>
According to the World Health Organization, the main risk factors are: the lack of physical barriers between people and water, a lack of (or inadequate) supervision of children, unprotected water crossings, lack of water-safety awareness and therefore risky behavior around water, overcrowding on water transportation and poor maintenance of vessels, and flood disasters.
These statistics are concerning, even more so because these numbers are only based on reported cases. In Zimbabwe, the drowning rates have increased year on year between 2010 and 2013. We set up the Kirsty Coventry Academy to address this drowning issue. With the support of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, we were able to provide swimming lessons to over 350 children in 2015 and more than 400 received water-safety instruction. Drowning prevention needs to involve all stakeholders, including government, schools, clinics, police, NGOs and the general public. The World Health Organization lists 10 actions we can take to prevent drowning:
<ol>
<li>Install barriers controlling access to water</li>
<li>Provide safe places away from water for pre-school children, with capable childcare</li>
<li>Teach school age children basic swimming, water safety and safe rescue skills</li>
<li>Train bystanders in safe rescue and resuscitation</li>
<li>Strengthen public awareness and highlight vulnerability of children</li>
<li>Set and enforce safe boating, shipping and ferry regulations</li>
<li>Build resilience and manage flood risks and other hazards locally and nationally</li>
<li>Coordinate drowning prevention efforts with those of other sectors and agendas</li>
<li>Develop a national water safety plan</li>
<li>Address priority research questions with well-designed studies</li>
</ol>
When my husband was two-years-old, he nearly drowned in a swimming pool at his home. His father was standing nearby talking to a friend while the rest of the family were playing in the garden. He slipped into the water without a sound and without anybody seeing. It was only when he was unconscious that his father saw him and pulled him out. Thankfully, his father knew CPR and Tyrone was resuscitated. Too many victims of drowning are not so lucky.
“Swimming is the only sport that can save a life,” says Prince William in a video about school swimming in Britain.
The Kirsty Coventry Academy will save lives, empower individuals and uplift communities through water-safety and drowning prevention programs, as well as other current health and education issues.
&nbsp;

Why must there BE deaths in  The Depths

In August, 10,500 athletes from 206 countries will be at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian city will play host to 42 sporting events, including the recently added golf and rugby sevens. Over the past four years I have been preparing for my swimming events. This equates to about 4,500 hours for a one to two-minute race. The Olympics is the biggest sporting event on the planet and hopeful Olympians around the world are in their final leg of preparations.
At this stage, athletes should have their foundations built and be fine tuning their training. There would have been large inconsistencies in previous years because of the many adaptations being made to find the big improvements. These last months should see more consistency as smaller, more refined, changes are made as coaches try and squeeze out every possible improvement in their athletes. As the consistency develops, so too does a strong and stable mind – a strength every Olympian is going to need. Persistent repetition in training will help create this consistency as well as build trust in themselves, which the athlete will need to prevent ‘choking’ – the word used to describe an increase in nerves, self-doubt and negative thinking. To get to this Olympic level there should be zero negativity in the mind of the athlete, coach or any other people surrounding the athlete. This is the responsibility of the athlete and the biblical story of Nehemiah highlights how important this is.
Nehemiah was a cup-bearer to King Artaxerxes. At a time when there were constant fears of plotting and intrigue, serving drinks at the royal table was an esteemed position because of the trust the king places on that person. When Nehemiah learned that the walls of Jerusalem needed rebuilding he asked the king for permission to repair the wall. Nehemiah made it his responsibility. He knew he couldn’t do it alone so he recruited reliable people who shared in the same vision as him. When others found out that they were going to rebuild the walls, Nehemiah and his team were mocked and ridiculed. When their enemies saw that these walls were being built, they set out to attack and destroy their work. However, the people Nehemiah had surrounded himself with prevented these attacks, which meant the walls continued to be built with little interruption.
Nehemiah trusted the people he surrounded himself with and refused to spend time on any issues that deviated from his goal. As important as it was to finish the wall, and as successful as Nehemiah became in doing so, he never undermined his values or integrity. Athletes are constantly faced with pressure from media, coaches, parents, friends as well as their own expectations. I have always surrounded myself by reliable and honest people, but with the Olympics drawing closer many athletes may feel they need to do ‘whatever it takes’ to win, even if that means doping or cheating. As important as winning is, a true athlete’s fundamental principle is to see how far their body can be pushed without cheating – this is the essence of being an Olympian.
Qualifying for the Olympics is a major milestone and the athlete gets to perform at the highest level in their sport. Too many athletes think that when the closing ceremony is performed and the final curtain is drawn their work is complete. But, just as Nehemiah used his success and experience from rebuilding the wall to continue benefiting the people of Jerusalem, it is also our responsibility to share our success and experience with others so they will become stronger and continue the cycle of promoting a better future for others.

How To Keep Your Head Above Water  Without Being a dope

If you haven’t heard about it, you’ve already missed it. The 2015 Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo, came and went without much ado. But, if you were South African swimmer Ricky Ellis, coming back with one gold and three silver medals from the small francophone country, it was a time of his life, in the pool and out.
“Obviously, Africa [swimming] is not considered great. But, the competition wasn’t as easy as we thought. We knew the Egyptians were going to come at us. There are a couple of Egyptians who did really well at Junior World Champs and they had a big cash incentive to win. From what I can remember they were getting $8,000 for a gold and I think a bonus $2,000 for a championship record. Some were flown in from the USA,” says Ellis.
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The tall backstroke swimmer is no stranger to competition. In December, he swam in the World Short Course Championships in Qatar and has plunged into the pools at the 2012 Africa Games. He is also on the cusp of Olympic glory, needing to drop 0.7 seconds on his personal best to qualify for Rio next year.
“My personal best has been 55.1 seconds last year at Nationals. It was good enough to go to the World Champs but [the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee] chose not to send me. You can never say definitely. But if you do qualify it’s pretty certain you can go to the Olympics,” says Ellis.
Brazzaville welcomed the swimmers of Africa by pulling out almost all the stops.
“In terms of the conditions, [Brazzaville was] way better than anything in South Africa. They had built a brand new pool, with new starting blocks. They had the overflow pool and it was a constant three meters deep, which is Olympic standard. But they didn’t have the backstroke ledges, which I was a little upset about. Still, you don’t get [pools like that] in South Africa.”
Away from the water it was a hair-raising experience for Ellis.
“When we arrived in Brazzaville we drove through poverty. There are huge crowds of men standing around. There are army guys everywhere with AK-47s. There were even guns strapped to the stands. Sitting in the bus, it’s quite nerve wracking to pass by soldiers who are training and have left their weapons on the floor,” he says.
“We were expecting it to be hot. The smog felt like we were in Beijing. The thing we were most scared of was the mosquitos. We were very scared of catching malaria. When we walked into the hotel room, we saw the carcasses of old mozzies on the floor. Luckily the mozzies decided they wanted to bite my roommate, Brent Szurdoki, instead of me.”
If the 28-year-old Ellis qualifies he will be a late comer to the pool. He is well over the average age of Olympic swimmers; according to USAswimming.org, in 2012 the average age for men is 25.8 years and 21.6 years for women.
“I started swimming from the age of four or five. I can remember crying a lot from the cold water in winters. But over time you get used to it. I only really started to swim well when I was about 20. That’s when I thought about moving to the States. I stuffed around at [the University of the Witwatersrand] doing a BCom General instead.”
“The youngsters push me at training every day. Most of them leave for the US. I get older and they get younger every year,” he says.
Ellis remains undeterred with his ever increasing age; after all, he’s just getting a taste for medals.

Medals Galore  AK-47s On The Floor

The relationship between an athlete and a coach can be complicated. It involves a personal bond but on a professional basis. Everything we’ve been told about mixing business and pleasure goes out the window. It requires responsibility from both sides and takes time to develop. Throughout my sporting career, I have had a close relationship with my coaches but there was a time when I regretted rushing into it.
I moved to Europe from the United States to join a new coach, one who I had only met on a few occasions. I was taken by the advice he offered me during a competition. I was already a successful swimmer and had the medals to show for it, but to remain successful, I needed something to change. So, when presented with his subsequent proposal and promise, I grabbed what I thought was an exciting opportunity.
Two weeks later, I realized I had not done my homework. The situation I had got myself into was not what I had expected. I was an elite athlete with three Olympic Games behind me, seven Olympic medals, multiple world records and my new coach was a junior level club coach with little international experience. I found it difficult to communicate with both him and his ego. Ego can be confused with confidence; it will stunt your growth because you fail to listen to others. This became a detriment to our partnership.
I tried making it work by following his program and quietly focusing on my individual desperation to succeed. It was too late and I started feeling what I had only ever seen others endure. For the first time, a lack of confidence had become my problem. As my confidence continued to cascade, so too did my passion in swimming. I was no longer swimming for the enjoyment of the sport; I was swimming because I thought I had nothing else. Perhaps change was not what I was after. The tipping point came during a competition when my coach’s temper burst into a dramatic fit of tantrums, in front of all the other athletes and coaches. My embarrassment and anger at him, and at myself for letting this happen, gave me the courage I needed to finally make the right decision.
Within a day, I had moved countries and flown back to my coaches in the United States. Now I knew what I wanted and I was anxious to get my confidence back. I had trained under Kim Brackin and David Marsh for a long time and we share a good relationship because they know me as a person, not just an athlete. This is essential for understanding what can affect an athlete outside of sport because of the impact it can have on training.
Their experience also matched the level of training and competition I required. This kind of platform enables us to balance expectations and hold each other accountable to our goals. I was no longer open to change but the necessity for it was confirmed when my coaches provided it for me. It came in the form of a team.
A team is not just a group of individuals with a common purpose. It is a group of passionate individuals with different strengths that help improve the weaknesses in each other to achieve a common goal. The team is made successful by good leadership. A good coach, like a good leader, is always learning, open to ideas and constantly searching for the most effective and efficient methods for improvement. This makes them willing to change, willing to evolve and, if properly communicated with the athlete, evolve together.
To successfully evolve together, the relationship between an athlete and a coach has seven elements: trust, experience, communication, accountability, passion, patience and time. For the magic to work, there is an eighth element that binds it all together – respect. It is vital that these components come from both the coach and the athlete and for that to happen both must earn each other’s respect.
The coach has to take the lead and, as the relationship progresses, a partnership will begin to emerge. A good coach not only prepares you for sport but they prepare you for life. They provide challenges that make for a better athlete and guidance in dealing with those challenges that make for a better person.

Behind Every Great Athlete  Is A Great Coach

South African sisters Anne Jones (a year shy of 70), Janey Hulley (72) and Sue Leuner (75) have one thing in common besides genes: their love for swimming.
They have been swimming all their lives, taking part in competitions, splashing around in the oceans, and there is just no stopping them.
“We have more chlorine in our blood than anything else,” laughs Jones, when we meet them on a hot day at the Ellis Park public pools in Johannesburg for the SA Masters National Swimming Championships.
The sisters lost their mother when in their 20s, which helped strengthen their bond. Even though they have their own families – children and grandchildren – they are incredibly close.
Leuner, the eldest, was taught swimming by their father in a fish pond at their home in Melrose in Johannesburg. Last year, at the age of 74, she won gold (in her age group) at the 15th FINA World Masters Championships in Montreal, Canada.
Jones too made swimming a career and now spends all her days by the pool coaching.
“I just love little children and I love swimming and both are my passion,” says Jones. She  does not see it as just a sport.
“It is a very forgiving sport, I used to teach at a cerebral palsy school, and you take these people out of a wheelchair who cannot move even an eyelash, put them in the water and suddenly they have all this movement. It sounds crazy but it’s almost like a spiritual thing, the sound of the water, the feel of the water, and we will go on to do this forever,” says Jones.
“I remember as a child, underwater was a really safe space, and that’s exactly what I feel now. I love to hear the water, feel it on my face,” adds Hulley.
For their age, all three are in fantastic shape, and the secret to a fit body – no prizes for guessing – is swimming about three-four times a week.
“It’s also hard work, but there is nothing like starting the day with a swim. We start at five in the morning, when the moon is still up, and when we get out we feel like we can take over the world. There has never been anyone in all the years I’ve coached that’s got out of the pool and said I wish I hadn’t done that,” says Jones.
The three continue to enter swimming competitions and at any given time, you will find at least one of them surfing the beach in the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal.

SWIM1_0005

‘We Have  More Chlorine In Our Blood’

International countries are guilty of having misconceptions about Africa but we are guilty about of the same thing with our own countries. When you hear about the Olympics, your thoughts undoubtedly go to the United States’ basketball team or Usain Bolt. You probably wouldn’t think about Zimbabwe or believe that this landlocked country in Southern Africa has been successful in swimming. Why would it, Africa can’t swim, or can it?
Coming from Africa means we have to work harder to get noticed and work longer to succeed. I have been swimming against this current for over a decade.
We give more recognition to the first-world athletes than our own. We have had to work harder, with less, yet when we succeed the scales are still not tipped in our favour. We are always looking away from Africa because we believe the grass is greener on the other side.
<div id="attachment_3510" style="width: 229px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3510" class="size-medium wp-image-3510" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/149377073-219x300.jpg" alt="" width="219" height="300" />LONDON, ENGLAND &#8211; JULY 27: Kirsty Coventry of the Zimbabwe Olympic swimming team carries her country&#8217;s flag during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on July 27, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)</div>
In 2012, while at lunch with Econet Wireless’ Strive Masiyiwa, I asked him where I should focus my business of swimwear apparel. He responded by quoting Booker T Washington.
“A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal: ‘Water, water. We die of thirst.’ The answer from the friendly vessel at once came back: ‘Cast down your bucket where you are.’ A second time, the signal, ‘Water, send us water!’ went up from the distressed vessel. And was answered: ‘Cast down your bucket where you are.’ A third and fourth signal for water was answered: ‘Cast down your bucket where you are.’ The captain of the distressed vessel, at last, heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River.”
Washington helped unite our races by fighting against white discrimination. Masiyiwa’s point was what we need is right here. It wasn’t easy back then and it’s certainly not easy now but as history has proved, it does become easier with concerted effort.
Three pillars that have given me strength in the battle against this current are perseverance, sacrifice and self-belief.
Perseverance is working hard all the time. Sacrifice is giving something up to accommodate the scarce resources of time and money. Self-belief is having faith in what you do and why you do it. It also makes sacrifice and perseverance worthwhile.
These are not things you write down and plan to do on a Monday morning. This is your ethos; it becomes your lifestyle.
Planning to be successful is important; you cannot simply believe you are going to be successful – no matter what books you might read. You have to implement your plans and it starts by setting goals. Goals should not be easy to attain but must be realistic.
When I was nine years old, I told my parents I wanted to go to the Olympics. They explained the necessity of goals as though it was a ladder; each rung you grab onto doesn’t make things easier but brings you closer to the top. The higher you get, the more difficult things become because the more people will be watching you and the more you have to balance. This balancing act is responsible for the necessary changes you will need to make.
At each Olympic Games I swam in, I had to set goals.
I qualified for the Sydney Olympics in 2000 when I was 16, but then needed a new goal: to make the finals. I only made the semi-finals but this was further than any Zimbabwean swimmer had gone before. I set myself new goals and created a plan to get there.
At Athens in 2004, I wanted to win a medal. I needed proper training facilities and a strong team. I couldn’t afford this on my own but was offered a scholarship by Auburn University in Alabama. I hated being away from home but I knew sacrifices had to be made. I worked hard over the next four years and finally won one gold, one silver and one bronze. I was not alone celebrating my victory; I was joined by 13 million Zimbabweans. This is when I realized the importance sport plays in a country – Zimbabwe was united under the flag I was holding on the podium in Greece.
New goals were set for the Beijing Olympics in 2008 but this time I wanted to win four gold medals. Most swimmers don’t even swim this many events, so I might have been a little unrealistic. I won one gold and three silvers. I was a little disappointed but I needed to adjust my thinking.
During the London Games in 2012, I wanted to become the greatest individual female swimmer in Olympic history by winning one more medal. Four months before the event, I dislocated my patella and then got pneumonia. I had to change my goals. All I wanted to do now was reach my fourth Olympic Games. Perseverance, sacrifice and self-belief ensured I made it to London. I never achieved my initial goal but I made the finals, finishing sixth in two of my races.
The Rio Olympics are next year. My goal hasn’t changed. I still want to become the greatest individual female swimmer in Olympic history.
There is a huge amount of potential in Africa but by focusing on higher profile things we are creating a current we have to fight against. We need to wake up and start celebrating what we are accomplishing and using this wave to progress further.

Swimming Against  The Tide

As a former South African Olympic swimmer, what qualities did you develop from the sport?
I started swimming when I was eight and trained every day for six hours until the age of 27, so I think that made me a determined person with a strong spirit.
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What does an aspiring athlete need to succeed, and did these qualities serve you well in life?
I wouldn’t be who I am today without my swimming and sport. Every athlete needs to understand the true values of sport, such as discipline, respect for oneself and others, as well as learning to make an effort and instil team spirit. I learned what duty means during my time as an athlete, as well as responsibility towards the country I represented. I think this prepared me well for my current role.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-6136" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Apr-May-042-044-ENTR-Monaco-TW-001-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />
There must have been challenges, such as learning French and Court Protocol, when transitioning from your life as a South African Olympic swimmer to Princess and wife of Prince Albert?
Yes of course, and I embraced these changes with the help of my husband, who has always been my strongest support.
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You are passionate about children being water safe.
The Princess Charlène of Monaco Foundation was established in December 2012 and our primary aim is to save children’s lives. It is something I am very passionate about. So many children die every year because they can’t swim. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 400 children and more than 1,000 people drown every day. Some three million children are rescued from drowning every year, with some suffering severe injuries as a result. These figures are terrible. It’s so important to raise public awareness of the dangers associated with water and to teach life-saving techniques to children. The skill of swimming can also be a gift that a person passes on to the next generation.
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What are the foundation’s current projects and what projects do you have in the pipeline?
This year will see a continuation of activities in Morocco and South Africa, where our projects have been set up. There’s a busy year ahead as we’re also considering some ambitious projects in India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Mauritania. These are all countries where the number of deaths by drowning is particularly high.
In France, we will be holding a ‘Learn to Swim’ program for 350 under-privileged children, with another water safety day planned in Dinard for 150 children. We are also planning a ‘Swim to Survive’ program in Quebec for more than 3,000 underprivileged eight-year-olds and a ‘Water Safety’ day for young children in Tustin, California.
In Monaco, we will be partnering with the Sea Rescue and First Aid Training Center to train children in first aid and the rules and basic skills of life-saving. This is in addition to swimming lessons, which are already part of the school curriculum.
We are also currently studying low-cost easy-to-instal portable pools that could be the solution for places that lack the financial means to build the traditional concrete or fiberglass pools.
These are all the main projects, but we are studying many more.
There is no way I could do any of this without help and the foundation also has a network of ambassadors in different countries to set up projects and look out for young talent. It would be wonderful if the media supported me in increasing world awareness on the importance of water safety for children and such support would be a good start to enable us to save children’s lives.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-6137" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Apr-May-042-044-ENTR-Monaco-TW-002-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />
What work has the foundation undertaken in South Africa?
In July last year, we established our first ‘Learn to Swim’ program in Durban under triathlete and sports coach, Dominique Donner-Rodd. Already over 130 children have taken part, including children from two orphanages. The foundation also helps promising young sports talents who lack means, mostly financial, to realize their sports potential. We currently have two brilliant young South African swimmers – 12-year-old Khwezi Duma who has represented South Africa in the junior category at the age of 10. She has already won seven gold medals during her short career. Our other star is 11-year-old Zoe Frank, a member of the South African women’s team, who has already broken six records in her category and is training for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
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What other organizations are you involved with, apart from the foundation?
I am very proud to be a member of the board of the Princess Grace Foundation USA and I am also Honorary President of Monaco Against Autism. I think it’s very important to support and encourage disabled people and I am Ambassador for the Special Olympics, as well as Peace and Sport. I have also been appointed co-patron of the Giving Organization Trust, a group of South African charities that deal with issues ranging from AIDS among underprivileged children to the protection of the environment. So I’m pretty busy.
As Monaco’s first lady, you also preside over the Principality’s National Day celebrations, the Monaco Grand Prix, the Rose Ball and the Annual Red Cross Ball, and attend many social events with the Prince, such as the recent Winter Olympics. Any tips for coping with such a hectic schedule?
If someone has a tip for me… it will be much appreciated!
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Do you follow fashion trends or favor specific designers?
I don’t follow trends and I never wear something to try make a statement.
What is the ‘must have’ item of clothing or accessory in your wardrobe?
Jeans and a white t-shirt.
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Where is your favorite holiday destination in Africa?
Anywhere the sun is shining.
<div id="attachment_6135" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-6135" class="size-medium wp-image-6135" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Apr-May-042-044-ENTR-Monaco-TW-004-300x221.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="221" />Cap Town Decembre 2011 Prince Albert of Monaco and Princess Charlene of Monacos meet the Desmond Tutu at the Desmond Tutu Foundation</div>
Lastly, having successfully taken your place on a tough global stage under the glare of the world media, what advice do you have for young women starting out in the business world?
To be themselves always, and to remember the words of Nelson Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

The Olympic Princess From Johannesburg

With just hours to go, the prevailing mood in Britain was hardly celebratory. On streets washed by rain, the number of tourists in London’s capital seemed below the average for the time of year. The last minute preparations were far from frenzied and all that anyone was certain of was that the opening ceremony involved live sheep.
But then the brutal cynicism that greets every major event in Britain was washed away by an event that left many around the world scratching their heads. The spectacular, which included dancing nurses, engineers, Shakespeare, James Bond and a cameo from the Queen, was a satisfying antidote to the blanket corporate sponsorship that had alienated many Londoners ahead of the games.
<div id="attachment_1187" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1187" class="size-medium wp-image-1187" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/149916643_10-300x203.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="203" />WINDSOR, ENGLAND &#8211; AUGUST 02: Sizwe Ndlovu, John Smith, Matthew Brittain and James Thompson of South Africa celebrate winning the gold medal for the Lightweight Men&#8217;s Four final on on Day 6 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Eton Dorney on August 2, 2012 in Windsor, England. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)</div>
The ceremony—which saw a celebration of the National Health Service, the industrial revolution and modern day British multiculturalism—combined wit, elegance and a theatricality. It confounded a widespread belief in the country that the event would be an expensive and embarrassing disaster.
A security fiasco, which saw G4S, the lead contractor, admit with weeks to go, that it had not hired enough staff to man the games, saw the army drafted in to run X-ray scanners and patrol the venues. Last minute problems on some of the major routes into London raised fears of transport chaos, but, though the infrastructure creaked under the weight of the additional hundreds of thousands of users, it held—just.
Even the weather, which had appeared apocalyptic, from March through to July, turned. The ceaseless rain gave way to fierce sunshine as summer smiled—although the hailstorms did return to add spice to the cycling road race.
The early stages were not encouraging for African teams. Nigerian slalom kayak hopeful, Johny Akinyemi, fell at the first hurdle, accumulating too many penalties in his two runs in the K1 event and failing to reach the semi-finals.
The Nigerian basketball team, which qualified at the eleventh hour for their first appearance at an Olympic Games, showed some promise, but came up against a rampant USA ‘Dream Team’, who notched up an Olympic record winning spread of 156-73. One of the country’s two individual medalists from the Beijing Olympics in 2008—Chika Chukwumerije—had to wait until close to the end of the event to try to better his bronze in the +80kg Taekwondo.
<div id="attachment_1185" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1185" class="size-medium wp-image-1185" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/150115672_10-300x214.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="214" />LONDON, ENGLAND &#8211; AUGUST 10: Meseret Defar of Ethiopia celebrates as she crosses the finish line ahead of Jepkemoi Jepkemoi Cheruiyot of Kenya and Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia celebrates winning gold in the Women&#8217;s 5000m Final on Day 14 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 10, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)</div>
Not that it mattered—London’s large Nigerian community has been vocal in its support of its team. A three day conference saw ministers and some of the country’s leading businesspeople gather in the Dorchester Hotel, while around town other delegations turned up to show off their country’s investment opportunities.
Juliano Máquina, Mozambique’s light-flyweight boxing hopeful, was soundly beaten by a clinical Aleksandar Aleksandrov, the Bulgarian took apart the Olympic debutant over the three rounds to win on points 22-7. Thomas Essomba, from Cameroon, the other African fancied in the weight category, put in a solid first round win, but failed to make the quarter finals, beaten by the Northern Irishman Paddy Barnes.
South Africa picked up some early successes in and on the water. The South African men’s lightweight four picked up a gold in the rowing, while Cameron van der Burgh and Chad le Clos were the surprise winners in the 100m breaststroke and the 200m butterfly, respectively. The latter, saw le Clos beat the world’s best—the American, Michael Phelps—by a fingernail, and made a hero of his father, Burt le Clos, whose hoarse and emotional post-swim interview with BBC quickly went viral.
As the first week drew to a close, it was only South Africans who had made it to the podium.
Hopes were boosted when the Kenyans arrived. With three Olympic champions—Pamela Jelimo, Brimin Kipruto and Asbel Kiprop—and four world champions—Vivian Cheruiyot, Ezekiel Kemboi, Edna Kiplagat and captain David Rudisha—named in their squad for the London games, there was no doubt the East Africans had come to win. Rudisha, an 800m runner, was set to follow in the footsteps of his father by participating in the 4x400m relay—the team’s pedigree crossed generations. In Beijing, Kenya was the highest ranking African country in the medal tables, taking six golds and 14 medals overall.
This time, they rejected the offer of a training base in Bristol, to the west of London, preferring to remain in Kenya to train at altitude right up to the last minute.
<div id="attachment_1189" style="width: 215px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1189" class="size-medium wp-image-1189" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/149585173_10-205x300.jpg" alt="" width="205" height="300" />LONDON, ENGLAND &#8211; JULY 31: Chad le Clos of South Africa celebrates after winning the gold in the Men&#8217;s 200m Butterfly final on Day 4 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre on July 31, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)</div>
Cheruiyot was the first in action, taking on a strong field, including the Ethiopian Olympic champion, Tirunesh Dibaba, in the 10,000m final. In the end, it was the Ethiopian’s day, kicking ahead to win gold, with Cheruiyot trailing in third behind her compatriot Sally Kipyego.
It was the Ethiopians again who denied Kenya in the women’s marathon; Tiki Gelana beat Priscah Jeptoo by five seconds to claim gold in the thrashing rain.
The highly fancied men’s team fared even worse in the 10,000m. On home turf, the British runner, Mo Farah, took gold ahead of the American Galen Rupp and Ethiopia’s Tariku Bekele, with the Kenyans trailing outside of the medal positions. It was the first time since 1984 that an African runner had not won the event—although some were quick to claim Mogadishu-born Farah for the continent. In a rather ugly series of attacks in the run-up to the games, the right-wing press had railed against Britain’s foreign-born competitors using the epithet “plastic Brits”. Farah’s response was definitive. Having taken gold, a journalist asked him whether he would have preferred to have won the medal for Somalia.
“Look, mate,” Farah replied, “This is my country.”
The Kenyans had to wait until Sunday afternoon to finally break their duck, Ezekiel Kemboi, a policeman facing an assault charge back in his home country, stormed ahead in the last lap of the 3,000m steeplechase, after his compatriot, Brimin Kipruto, had fallen. At the end of the race, Kemboi announced that he would retire from the discipline to focus on the marathon.
Amongst the running contingent was Guor Marial, whose story captured the imagination of many in the international media in the run up to the games. Marial was one of four competitors who joined the parade of athletes underneath the Olympic flag. Three—Churandy Martina, Philip Elhage and Rodion Davelaar—are previous competitors from the Netherlands Antilles, which recently became a municipality of the Netherlands.
<div id="attachment_1188" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1188" class="size-medium wp-image-1188" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/149771045_10-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />LONDON, ENGLAND &#8211; AUGUST 03: Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia celebrates winning gold in the Women&#8217;s 10,000m Final on Day 7 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 3, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)</div>
Marial, in his first Olympics, was born in South Sudan, and turned down an offer from Khartoum to run for the north. Granted refugee status by the US when he was 16, the marathon runner lost many of his relatives in the vicious civil war that saw millions displaced. With South Sudan newly independent and lacking an organizing committee, the decision by officials to allow Marial a spot marks the first time an athlete from Africa’s 54th nation has been able to compete.
While stories like that of Marial have provided great examples of the redemptive power of sport, the event continues to raise questions about the ability of athletes from the continent to be able to make their mark. While the raw talent and commitment of African competitors has seen them dominate a few important sports in recent decades, the London games more than any other may have shown that top-level sport is becoming so clearly bifurcated between the haves and the have-nots. The dominance of the US and China in the medal tables showed that financial clout can be the difference between a victor and an also-ran.
The press fell in love with the stories of hardship and graft of willing amateurs like Hamadou Djibo Issaka, the rower from Niger who took up the sport only months before the games. He worked as a gardener and swimming pool attendant in Niamey and trained in an old fishing boat. The 35-year-old finished a distant last in the single sculls. While narratives like his provide great examples of the vaunted “Olympic Spirit”, they also highlight the vast discrepancies in resources. British rowers, who had one of their best years at home, are the product of a well-established network of training facilities, coaches, equipment and finance.
In the end, African hopes fell in the most part to domestic competitors, as British athletes, fired up by the support in London, won through in events that would normally be dominated by the continent’s finest.
Although much noise was made around the ‘Africa Village’ hospitality area about a potential bid by Durban for 2024, with no African countries on the shortlist for 2020, it will be more than a decade before anyone on the continent will be able to claim that home advantage.
<div id="attachment_1186" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1186" class="size-medium wp-image-1186" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/149948438_10.jpg.-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />Track &amp; Field: 2012 Summer Olympics: Kenya Ezekiel Kemboi victorious after winning Men&#8217;s 3000M Steeplechase Final gold at Olympic Stadium. London, United Kingdom 8/5/2012 CREDIT: John W. McDonough (Photo by John W. McDonough /Sports Illustrated/Getty Images) (Set Number: X155268 TK11 R1 F174 )</div>
Kenya’s prime minister, Raila Odinga, threw his country’s hat into the ring for a bid, reminding press that the country is not only home to some of the world’s greatest runners, elite athletes already flock to the high altitude training centres in Iten, in the Rift Valley. However, major international investment—and a change in international perceptions of the country, and the continent more broadly—would be needed for that bid to take off. It is unlikely to have been enhanced by the closure of the ‘Africa Village’ early due to unpaid debts, caused by the failure of many African Olympic committees to turn up and take out space.

Tag: Swimming

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

Making A Splash And More Glory

More Olympians In South Africa’s Pools

The Flip Turn

How Pain, Bullying And A Pork Chop Can Get You To Gold

Why must there BE deaths in The Depths

How To Keep Your Head Above Water Without Being a dope

Medals Galore AK-47s On The Floor

Behind Every Great Athlete Is A Great Coach

‘We Have More Chlorine In Our Blood’

Swimming Against The Tide

The Olympic Princess From Johannesburg

From African Grit To Plastic Brits