SA athletes left stranded by visa delays on the eve of World Champs

While most of the country’s top athletes arrived in advance, South Africa were not immune to the visa challenges faced by teams arriving in the United States this week for the World Athletics Championships in Eugene.

Athletes around the world were left stranded in the build-up to the showpiece, perhaps most notably African 100m record holder Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya, who finally received clearance to enter the host country on Thursday after it seemed he might have to withdraw.

The majority of the SA squad had arrived in Eugene ahead of Friday’s opening day of competition, including the likes of 100m sprinter Akani Simbine, 400m world record holder Wayde van Niekerk (who is based in the US) and three-time 800m world champion Caster Semenya, who will line up in the women’s 5 000m event.

But 13 athletes in the South African team – 10 of them based in Italy and three in Joburg – were still waiting on Thursday for waivers after they were unable to get US visas. They included in-form sprinter Luxolo Adams, SA 200m record holder Clarence Munyai and other members of the national 4x100m relay team.

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While Athletics South Africa had received late clearance for the athletes to enter the US without visas in order to compete at the biennial showpiece, they faced further delays at the airport on departure, apparently due to a lack of communication between officials which caused some confusion.

Even if they were given a clear path to the event once arriving in the US, some athletes were set to arrive just hours before the opening rounds of their disciplines.

Organisers were widely criticised on social media for not preparing sufficiently in advance for athletes to be able to follow the visa application process for entry to the US, which includes an interview by appointment.

The 10-day World Athletics Championships, postponed last year due to Covid, starts on Friday and comes to a close next weekend.