No development = no medals

No one can expect to get rewards if they haven’t worked hard for them.

This is also true for sport, but it seems oftentimes Namibians expect success to come their way without having put in the necessary hard work.

And normally sporting success does not come from work that has been done over the course of three or four years.

Instead, it comes from years and years of dedication, commitment to excelling in your chosen code as well as sufficient development of one’s talents by adequate coaches and trainers.

There are many examples of this, but for brevity’s sake I’ll only give you one.

American swimmer Aaron Peirsol, who actually visited these shores, told of how he spent a lot of his childhood in the pool, long before he became a multiple Olympian.

He became an idol to many swimmers but would not have achieved much success if it wasn’t for those early years spent in the pool.

Those early years provided him with a chance to develop his talent, and coupled with enough support, he was able to achieve success.

Peirsol’s example is not unique as a lot of other athletes have gone through the same process to get to where they are.

However, in the Namibian context we’ve seen time and time again how incredibly talented athletes fall by the way-side way before they have reached their prime.

It is easy to blame this on the athletes, but if they are not provided with enough guidance and support, which in essence is development, then we’ll never get anywhere.

Another aspect of development also includes competing against sometimes stronger competitors.
This makes an athlete step up to another level.

Just look at how Helalia Johannes smashed the Namibian marathon record at the London Olympics.
Simply put, her competitors made her faster.

Now back to the Namibian context, where the best athletes usually only find adequate competition outside our borders.

This means something is fundamentally wrong in our development set-up and we can’t really expect our athletes to soar if those issues are not addressed.

So in as much as we all want our athletes to get medals, I believe the real hard work has not been done yet.