Murray’s departure serves as a reminder to back SA athletes

It’s hardly going to send alarm bells ringing, but the decision announced by Richard Murray this week is a reminder that we need to look after our athletes, or we might be in danger of losing them.

Murray, who earned two medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and finished fourth at the 2016 Rio Olympics, has never made a secret of his ties with the Netherlands.

Married to Dutch triathlete Rachel Klamer, 33-year-old Murray has become a regular member of the European nation’s pre-season training camps.

His announcement, however, that he had opted to compete for the Netherlands for the remainder of his elite career would have sent mini-shock waves through the local triathlon community.

One of the best triathletes the country has ever produced, Murray paved the way in a golden era for the sport, forming the core of a strong national squad. And now he’s gone.

In reality, we probably had him at his best and it’s unlikely he’ll achieve more for the Netherlands than he did for South Africa. But it has happened before, and we don’t want it to happen again.

Though she spent the earlier stages of her career in South Africa, former national marathon record holder Colleen de Reuck secured two medals at the World Cross Country Championships after switching allegiance to the United States, and Zola Budd won two global titles in the colours of Great Britain.

Not that every athlete who has the opportunity chooses to jump ship. During his career, Olympic relay gold medallist Ryk Neethling was reportedly offered an eight-figure deal to swim for Qatar, but he turned it down in order to continue representing his country of birth.

Many other SA athletes hold dual citizenship, and they could also compete elsewhere.

Fortunately, patriotism seems to run deep in South African blood, and we have been able to hold on to most of our top athletes in Olympic sports, many of whom have achieved global success despite the logistical challenges of being based at home.

Last year, however, we lost shot put specialist Zane Weir, who switched allegiance to Italy and took his immense talent with him, and now we’ve got Murray ditching the dazzling green and gold for a horrible shade of orange.

Though we won’t hold on to everyone, it’s important that every sport in SA supports its elite stars and creates opportunities, with these responsibilities falling upon national federations, Sascoc, government, corporates, and even the media and fans.

We need our best athletes in SA colours if we are going to compete at the highest level of international sport. And to do that, we must appreciate those we have, and do what we can to hang on to them.