Africa's stars fail to come out for showpiece

It is time for Africa to create its own “shareconomy” using athletics as one of its most valuable currencies, says Ockert de Villiers.

This week I experienced the “shareconomy” in its full glory while catching a lift from Pretoria to Durban for the African Athletics Championships.

Uber and a fellow journalist were there for the commute to the stadium while Airbnb supplied a place to sleep.

One truly experiences the spirit of Ubuntu when travelling like this, talking to people one would otherwise miss while immersed in your own world.

The continental showpiece held on home soil was supposed to be the convergence of Africa's best in track and field.

Unfortunately, the reality is a far cry from these noble ideals as the best of the best largely snubbed the 2016 South African edition.

South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk is the only one of 12 title holders from the 2015 Beijing IAAF World Championships competing in Durban this week.

Before the start of the championships Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) chief Hamad Kalkaba Malboum(crt) beamed about the good health of athletics on the continent.

The reality is that Kenya sent a team of fringe athletes to the championships without a single one of their superstars.The east Africans made history in 2015 by becoming the first nation from this continent to finish atop the World Championships medal table but did not see the sense in sending a full-strength team here.

Perhaps rightly so, as their athletes were given an opportunity to put the finishing touches to their preparations for the Olympic trials held from June 30 to July 1 with not a single one of their seven world champions making the trip south.

After a grilling by one of the visiting journalists, Malbourn admitted the absence of Africa’s best had indeed been a concern.”It is something that we will try to work on for the future, but it is disappointing,” Malboum said.

Local athletics enthusiasts were denied the opportunity of seeing global superstars like Kenyan world 800 metres record-holder David Rudisha or Ethiopian female distance superstar Genzebe Dibaba in action.

South Africa's best were out in full force thanks to the presence of Olympic silver medallist Caster Semenya, Van Niekerk, and women's world javelin bronze medallist Sunette Viljoen.

Athletics is a prime example of African excellence and an opportunity for the continent to share knowledge, and give the rest of the world a proper run for its money.

It is time for Africa to create its own “shareconomy” using athletics as one of its most valuable currencies.

But as long as Africa’s best continue to snub their own championships and view them as second-rate competition, that dream of a dominant continent will not come to fruition.

Local organisers also came under some flack for the lack of marketing of the event as it received sparse support from local enthusiasts.Charging spectators R100 a person without promoting the support ahead of the five-day meeting was over-ambitious of the South African organisers.

Support of South African athletics has been in a lull over the last few years and the sport needs to first rekindle the love for track and field before charging premium prices for a bargain basement product.

Saturday Star