The president of Athletics South Africa Aleck Skhosana has welcomed the unlocking of all things athletics in the country which includes the resumption of training and participation in competitions as from 1 November.
Skhosana said he welcomed the opening up of athletics activity in all its forms and appealed for affiliates to return to the field under the new sporting normal and protocols under the government’s strict Covid-19 medical and safety regulations of the National Disaster Management Act.
He said running events are back but will be limited to distances of not more than 10km and this includes road running, park runs, cross country and trail running. “Races over longer distances are regarded as high-risk events and are therefore not allowed,” Skhosana cautioned. Skhosana said a maximum of 500 athletes will be allowed for road running, cross-country, trail running and park runs.
For track and field, the maximum number of participants at a competition venue at any given time will also not exceed 500, which includes athletes, technical officials, volunteers, medical team, media and broadcasting team [where relevant] and stadium workers. At both running and track and field events, no spectators will be allowed. All rules and restrictions pertaining to the allowed events will be reviewed at the end of December in consultation with the sports and health departments.
During the period of 1 November to 31 December, only licensed athletes will be allowed to compete in ASA accredited events and this includes temporarily licensed athletes. Temporary licenses will be issued at the provincial level at least 48 hours before competition to prevent a large gathering seeking licenses on race day. Events that normally take place during the December festive season have not been approved due to the high risk of Covid-19 infections.
With regards to return to training, only athletes in possession of a licence will be allowed to commence with training to prepare for their events. All-access to training facilities are subject to compliance with the Covid-19 regulations at each training facility. More information in this regard will be announced in due course. “We are entering a new era as an athletics family in the country as we begin to claw our way back to an unknown future under a new order of sporting life,” Skhosana said. “However, while we look at returning to the partial activity under the new order of things, let us not forget that the priority is still to first save lives since the coronavirus is still very much with us,” he added.
Where relevant, Skhosana said staggered starts will be employed to mitigate big groups and in the case of running events, one water point with ample water tables will be permitted and will be manned by masked volunteers who will be required to sanitise their hands after every group of runners has passed. “The volunteers who handle the sachets will wear gloves and will be screened accordingly.
This means volunteers and race marshals will be trained in the Covid-19 protocols and will enforce acceptable social distancing and make sure water bottles are not shared. Only water sachets that are supplied at the official water stations by the trained marshals or volunteers will be allowed.”
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