‘LOCAL ELITE RUNNERS A DISAPPOINTMENT’

Sir,

I couldn’t resist this ‘headline’ in the sports section of one of our locally read newspapers on Tuesday morning. Since I’m one person who is always into the sport, participating every now and then, there was no way such a statement could just flash before my eyes and pretend I didn’t see it. It is something I love, something I kind of have firsthand experience in. But the content disappointed me. It had me boiling for such a poor and uninformed piece of editorial. The writer got it all wrong the moment he used the words ‘our so-called elite runners’. That statement, alone, lacks respect for the athletes out there. Now, back to the gist of the editorial.

Professional

Who are the ‘our so-called elite runners’ the writer was referring to? You can’t say every person you come across or pass (as he alluded to in the article) by along the streets is a professional athlete. Most of these athletes he may have been referring to are just social runners who have clubs - your Zithandes, Golden Foot and they have matching outfits. But does that have to be offensive to the other person on the street? Watching the marathon on television one got to see those every tights he was complaining about donned by our African brothers. It is never about showing off.

Available

How many professional athletes, readily available, do the clubs unleash for the races? Lest one forgets, the sport is not as professional as one would wish it to be. The South African counterparts this article seemingly sought to glorify over our own athletes are more like professionals, they run for Nedbank to mention just one. They are always in the kingdom whenever there is a race and countless races in South Africa and Mozambique. Tell me how many times do our athletes cross the border for races such that one could expect them to match those guys pound for pound? It’s not that I’m trying to defend the athletes but these guys are trying under the circumstances.

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