COMMONWEALTH GAMES - Only three codes in the national squad picked up medals in Glasgow.
South Africa’s campaign fizzled to a tame close at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Sunday.
On the final day of action at the 11-day showpiece, two South Africans participated in track cycling finals, with Mitchell Sparrow finishing 14th in the men’s 1 000m time trial and S’annara Grove ending 22nd in the women’s elimination race.
The national team ended 11th in the overall standings with 28 medals - one more than the medal haul of 27 achieved at the previous edition of the Games in Birmingham in 2022, despite that squad having been twice the size as it was in Glasgow.
While the national swimming team were superb, however, led by backstroke star Pieter Coetzé (who bagged six medals), questions need to be asked about most other codes.
The swimming squad claimed 22 medals at the Games, but only two other sports made contributions, with the athletics team securing four podium places and judo adding two to the bag.
Struggling sports
The lawn bowls contingent were particularly disappointing, failing to secure a medal at the quadrennial Games for the first time since the nation made its comeback after readmission in 1994.
Other sports contested in Glasgow in which South Africa were unable to reach the podium included boxing, gymnastics, netball, track cycling, basketball and weightlifting.
Even in athletics, which made the second largest contribution, there were some major disappointments.
In the men’s 4x100m relay - currently perhaps the country’s best track and field discipline - the national quartet won their heat and looked good to challenge for a medal. But they bombed out in the final, and after settling for fifth position, they were disqualified for a lane infringement.
Multiple first-choice sprinters were missing from the relay squad, including Bayanda Walaza (who was injured during the qualifying window for the Games), 100m finalist Gift Leotlela (who apparently did not make himself available for the relay) and 200m champion Sinesipho Dambile (who was either unavailable or not selected for the relay final).
Nonetheless, the quartet of Mvuyo Moss, Cheswill Johnson, Bradley Nkoana and Akani Simbine broke the African record to claim silver at the World Athletics Relays in Botswana earlier this year, and they were well below par in Glasgow.
And former world indoor 800m champion Prudence Sekgodiso didn’t even reach the women’s two-lap final.
Looking ahead to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, SA swimming looks to be in a good space, but most other sports have a lot of work to do if they want to make any sort of impact on the biggest stage of all.
Article courtesy of The Citizen.
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