Sporting events are won on merit

The Art of Sport

Arthur Choga

THERE is a biblical verse that is dear to me and one I often turn to every now and then.

The scripture is from Ecclesiastes 9: 11 and reads: “I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

It is attributed to King Solomon, the son of King David, and is a powerful scripture that I have used in some settings to great effect.

However, in the world of sport, it has sometimes served to give people false comfort when they do not exert themselves.

Others hope for a miracle when they step onto the track, instead of doing the needful to achieve success.

But on the track, the race will always go to the swift.

In power sports, the battle will go to the strong.

Chances that the 200m race at the Olympics will go to anyone other than the fastest runner are next to none.

Speaking of the Olympics, the Games’ motto is in Latin,“Citius, Altius, Fortius — Communiter”, which translates to “Faster, Higher, Stronger — Together”.

These words carry a lot of value in sport, where the objective is to be the best that you can be and to use sport as a unifying factor.

Unfortunately, there can only be one winner at a time.

While the opportunity to take part at a high level like this is an accolade that needs to be recognised and appreciated, it should end there.

As a nation, we have to inculcate the belief that we can come first and that it is good and proper to prepare for a high level of success adequately.

We have to set goals and then chase them with ruthless intensity.

The level of preparation that has gone into turning Jamaica into perennial contenders in the Olympic and World Championship sprint events has to be studied.

So, too, does the high-performance programme adopted by our neighbours Botswana, who have become very competitive on the track.

We must be prepared to, first, create opportunities and conditions that help our athletes to attain Olympic-qualifying times.

Then, once they have attained those standards, we have to help them become competitive at the Games.

The Olympics are clear on qualification for track events.

One only needs to meet the set times to qualify.

Once an athlete has set the qualification times, they need to prepare for the actual event.

How can we assist the 1 500m runner, for example, to race, train and acclimatise to the conditions similar to Paris in July when the Games will be held?

I would love to see a situation where a nutrition company, for example, adopts an athlete and uses the power of social media to track their wellness journey and capture their preparations for the event.

Food for thought.

Team events generally have to go through qualifying tournaments.

Once they reach the required stage of the qualifiers, they are through to the Olympics.

The last team to make it to the Olympics was the Zimbabwe women’s football team, the Mighty Warriors, who qualified for the 28th Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil, in August 2016.

The men’s team has never made it to the Olympics.

Olympic success is a great boost for any national branding initiative.

Ethiopia has successfully built a global brand on the performances of their long-distance athletes.

Kenya has done the same and its brand is even more successful than that of the Ethiopians.

Uganda now has a seat at that table and this comes on the back of a determined national effort.

The bottom line is how much a nation wants to be known, respected and appreciated for its sporting prowess.

The moment athletes feel and appreciate a push to support and nurture their skills, they will deliver.

It is tough for an athlete to aspire to be the best while, at the same time, agonising over where to buy the right training kit.

So, the race will be to the best prepared of the swift and the battle to the best conditioned of the strong.

Let us address these issues and we will get faster, higher and stronger together.

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