Cape Argus

Sprinter Adams to fight his late axing from TeamSA

LUXOLO Adams’ Olympic dream could be shattered, unless Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie comes to his rescue.

McKenzie has weighed in on TeamSA’s cruel decision to drop Adams from the Olympic team competing in Paris next month. Adams was initially named to represent the country.

A devastated Adams took to social media to make public the decision to drop him. His statement read in part: “I want to address the recent developmen­t about my removal from the South African Olympic team.

“This decision has been incredibly dishearten­ing, especially considerin­g the journey I have undertaken and the mental and physical challenges I have faced. I qualified for the Olympics on August 23 (last year).” There has been a huge outcry on social media and McKenzie has asked Athletics South Africa (ASA) for clarificat­ion.

Said McKenzie: “We are attending to this matter. The department has contacted the presidents of the South African Sports Confederat­ion and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) and ASA. We await their responses.”

Adams was informed via WhatsApp that he would be withdrawn from the team. He has decided to take legal action. “I am currently seeking urgent legal interventi­on to prevent ASA from removing me from the team, which I qualified for ... The matter is now with my legal team ...” his statement concluded.

Apart from the sports minister’s efforts, Adams may have taken comfort from a case in 2012 when Sascoc was forced to include an athlete in the SA team for the London Olympics. However, that would mean that Adams, one of the country’s finest 200m sprinters, would have to approach the Court of Arbitratio­n for Sport (CAS) in Switzerlan­d.

At the heart of the matter is ASA’s decision to find a place for Wayde van Niekerk, who has qualified for the 400m and the 200m. However, ASA has decided that he will run the 200m and not the 400m. To date, five South African sprinters have attained 200m qualifying times for Paris. However, countries may not have more than three athletes in an event. Shaun Maswangany­i and Benji Richardson are the country’s leading 200m sprinters and they will be joined by Van Niekerk.

This year, Adams has been battling with injury and declined several invitation­s to compete. He has always assured ASA that he was recovering and receiving specialist treatment, without proving that he was in peak condition. Earlier this month, Adams participat­ed in a 200m event in Italy and clocked a pedestrian 21.50sec. He was due to compete three days later in Hungary, but failed to do so.

“All parties agreed that the performanc­e on July 6 was a poor result,” ASA’s Hezekiel Sepeng wrote to Adams, “and indicated that you are not ready for the Olympic Games, and your coach indicated that you were in your fourth week of rehabilita­tion.

“Instead, you should focus on your recovery and prepare for next season. During the group call you were given the opportunit­y to express your feelings about the decision, and you agreed with it.”