ATHLETICS NEWS - After a successful 2017 campaign by the nation's elite athletes across all age levels, Athletics South Africa sat down with the federation's President, Aleck Skhosana, to discuss how far the organisation has come this year and where their vision will take the sport to next season.
Q: Looking back at another great year for athletics, what were the highlights for ASA this season?
A: There were two highlights from a performance perspective. The ascension of Team South Africa to the top spot of the world in the youth category at the IAAF World U18 Championships in Nairobi and also the improvement in terms of medals and standings at the IAAF World Championships in London, where Team SA rose from No 13 in Beijing two years ago to No 3, surpassing a number of great nations including Ethiopia, China, Germany and Jamaica. Those were both great achievements for the sport.
Q: Are you able to put your finger on the rapid improvement of performance levels in recent years? Why do you think the athletes and the sport, are doing so well?
A: I think there are two reasons. Firstly, there is cohesion in athletics administration countrywide. We are all speaking with one voice and there is no more pulling and pushing each other with negative vibes. Secondly, South Africa as a country is very strong in athletics and in coaching in particular. As a result of that, we've worked hard to ensure we've got the support of our coaches at every level and they are all working to make sure the athletes shine. I think those are two things we can pinpoint at this stage, but it comes down to cohesion, strong competition, strong coaching and the strategy we have implemented by aiming to be on top of the world.
Q: We've seen the standard improving at senior level over the last few years. How promising is it to see similar improvements in younger age groups as well?
A: If you look at the youth and junior categories, we have a pool of athletes from entry level through to senior level, so if we do not go wrong, it means that for the next 20 years or more we will have athletes representing this country and coming back with medals from major international championships.
Q: What is the next step in developing the sport across the board as part of the federation's long-term vision?
A: We still have to work very hard to improve our position, but the focus now is on the juniors. Next year we have the World U-20 Championships in Tampere and in Bydgoszcz two years ago, we were positioned22, so we need to improve that and get the team in the top 10. We are speaking to our selectors and coaches about criteria to make sure when we send that team to Finland next year they come back with honour and glory, as the youth and senior teams did this year.
