SA athletes must find top form next year if they want to chase Olympic medals

Like an accordion being stretched, the international athletics season has been drawn apart and squashed back together over the last few years, with Covid completely disrupting the structure of seasonal competition.

As such, any athletes who struggled to find their peak in a packed 2022 campaign would have had good reason for failing to hit top form when it counted.

But now that things are back to normal – or as close to normal as they can be – there will be no room for excuses in the 2023 season.

Performance levels

Between 2012 and 2017, South African athletics reached an all-time high, with performances being produced at a level we’ve never really seen before.

Since 2017, however, the sport has struggled to maintain that level and we are now experiencing a medal drought.

The reality is that we lost most of our best athletes in a short period, due to injuries, retirement, personal battles and gender rules. While we relied largely on four athletes to deliver – Wayde van Niekerk, Caster Semenya, Luvo Manyonga and Sunette Viljoen – Van Niekerk is the only one of the quartet who can be relied upon anymore, and that’s only if he’s able to continue making progress in his ongoing comeback from serious injury.

While there is a great deal of talent coming through, we still seem to be in limbo, and the next generation is now going to have to step up.

Sprint star Akani Simbine has had to carry most of the weight in terms of track and field results in recent years, and as well as he’s done, he can’t do it alone.

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Looking ahead to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, we can’t wait for athletes to stand up on the eve of the showpiece. If they want to shine in the French capital, they need to start showing medal-winning form next year.

With Covid restrictions being lifted, and the season returning to normal, hitting peaks will not be as challenging as it was this year. And if anyone is going to be earning medals on the track in Paris, they will need to be able to do so at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.

Having missed out on the podium at the last two editions of the World Championships, the SA team must be ready to raise the bar and the talent we have needs to evolve at senior level.

We know we have the ability to punch above our weight because we’ve done it before.

But we can’t keep talking about potential. We need individuals to stand up and deliver. No more excuses.