Cape Town — A whole host of South Africans are in danger of missing out on competing at the upcoming world athletics championships in Eugene, Oregon due to visa problems.
Many of the affected athletes have been based in Italy during the European summer, as it is easier to travel to events on the continent rather than flying up from South Africa each time.
But with the world championships starting on Friday in Oregon, some of them have not been cleared by the US authorities to fly over to America.
At the heart of the problem is the lack of available appointments to apply for a visa, with interviews required before the visas are issued.
Independent Media understands that Athletics South Africa have asked the government for assistance in this regard by making contact with the US authorities.
One of the affected athletes is sprinter Gift Leotlela. He is part of the big SA group in Italy, and he told Independent Media on Tuesday that he is still hoping to travel to America.
“They (ASA) couldn’t get us visa appointments here in Italy. I think athletes affected are me, Henricho (Bruintjies), (Sinesipho) Dambile, Miranda (Coetzee), Clarence (Munyai), Carina (Horn), (Sokwakhana) Zazini, (Zakithi) Nene, (Luxolo) Adams and Taylon (Bieldt),” Leotlela said.
“They are working with World Athletics to try and get us waivers so we can enter the US without the visas. That’s the information we’ve received, but obviously if we can’t fly out tomorrow (Wednesday), then we won’t leave anymore.”
“It’s hard to explain how I’m feeling. Even if we do fly out tomorrow (Wednesday), I still won’t be recovered for Friday (competition) because of jet-lag. It’s just not fair that we couldn’t prepare properly for the world championships… Rather, we’ve just been under stress.”
That would be a disastrous outcome for the athletes and Team South Africa, as they would have been banking on the men’s 4x100m relay team — where Leotlela, Bruintjies and possibly Adams may have played a role — to challenge for a medal.
Adams also posted the fifth-fastest 200m time this year (19.82) in Paris in June, and is a definite medal contender.
The men’s 100m event kicks off on Friday with the preliminary rounds, so Leotlela needs to arrive in Oregon by Thursday for the latest to line up in the blocks, with the heats taking place in the Friday evening session.
Another SA sprinter, Shaun Maswanganyi, is based at the University of Houston, so he isn’t affected by the visa issues. But he told Independent Media from the US on Tuesday that it was “hard to get an appointment” at an embassy, and that his student visa took six months to be issued.
Athletes from other countries such as Kenya, Sri Lanka and India have also been scrambling to get visas to compete in Oregon.
IOL Sport