African champs debacle: SA sprinter leads walkout of stars in Cameroon

Athletes are criticising the poor organisation of the African athletics championships in Cameroon, with South Africa’s US-based sprinter Shaun Maswanganyi saying on social media he had withdrawn because it was so bad.

Later on Saturday a few other big names reportedly failed to start their events. 

Botswana star Letsile Tebogo, the double sprint medallist from the 2023 world championships in Budapest, said he would run the 100m semifinals on Saturday, but if nothing had improved by then he would refuse to compete in the final.

“We’ll see about the final because there’s a lot of disorganised stuff,” Tebogo told trackside journalists in a video that was posted on X after winning his heats in 10.29 on the opening day of the competition in Douala on Friday.

“So maybe I’m not going to run, maybe I’ll run because you warm up, you stay one hour to be cold [for the start of the race] but we know that time is money in athletics — we can’t warm up, sit and then be cold [when] we get to run.”

Tebogo, who won the 100m silver and 200m bronze in Hungary, stressed that his main focus this year was the Paris Olympics, which kick off in five weeks' time.

He was disqualified for false-starting on Saturday,though it was not immediately clear if he had intended to do that as a protest. 

Maswanganyi posted a video of an official using wooden clappers to start a race, saying organisers had made the switch after athletes had complained the gun was too quiet.

“Long story short, the organisation of the whole meet (African Champs) is absolutely dismal, to say the least. We, as athletes, are constantly told to ‘do as the Romans do’ and are expected to perform in the harshest conditions. If nothing changes, I’ll be in Houston by Saturday,” Maswanganyi, who is coached by American legend Carl Lewis, wrote on X.

Then he added: “I wish I were exaggerating when I say my health is at risk, as there is hardly any accommodation for my allergies. I can only imagine what other athletes are experiencing, from sharing beds to food-related problems. Additionally, transport has been a significant issue.

“That being said, I booked my flight this morning, and I’m current[ly] typing this at the airport.

“I vlogged the whole meet, so I’ll be posting on my YouTube channel soon. If we don’t look out for ourselves as athletes, no one else will. Fin.”

Athletics agent Jeff Freeman said on X that one of his athletes didn’t know her time or whether she had qualified for the semifinals of her event three-and-a-half hours after competing. “Hopefully by the time her 90-minute ride back to the hotel is over she’ll know. It’s not good enough.”

Veteran Ivorian star Marie Josee Ta Lou-Smith, owner of three world championship sprint medals, said she felt “hurt and disappointed” by the poor organisation.

“My team have to take a yango (taxi) to go to the stadium because the transportation sucks,” she tweeted.

Later she posted that on the way to the stadium they had seen an athletics team bus being escorted to the stadium by police. “Why not do it for everybody?”

Making of Champions, a Nigeria-based movement, tweeted on Saturday afternoon that Ta Lou-Smith, Nigerians Favour Ofili and Rosemary Chukwuma had not started their events on the second day.

The fact that the president of the African athletics confederation (CAA), Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, is Cameroonian didn’t seem to help the organisation of the championships.