Kevin McCallum
Glasgow: Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio bore her country’s flag into the closing ceremony Hampden Park last night as South Africa and the rest of the Commonwealth said farewell to Glasgow after 11 days of competition.
Moolman-Pasio won South Africa’s 40th medal of the 20th Commonwealth Games yesterday morning, a bronze in the road cycling, in a photo-finish that gave her third place over Australia’s Tiffany Cromwell.
It was South Africa’s last feat of the Games and it was fitting that it was a moment to savour.
The athletes have left the city in stages. Most have arrived home, but they have taken with them the satisfaction of a job well done and hope for the Olympics in Rio.
Richard Murray, the triathlete, took bronze on the first day. The swimmers followed suit, quickly, with 12, seven of them claimed by Chad le Clos, who had been sick in the build-up to Glasgow and wasn’t at his best. He had wanted nine medals.
In Rio, Le Clos may aim for three or four, or more. Right now, he is the best swimmer in the world and his teammates feed off that.
The bowls team were not afraid to say they had spent their share of time in the Ninth Lane, the bar in the athletes’ village. But they did not faltered in competition, adapting to the heavy greens to win five gold medals, the most by a single nation at one Commonwealth Games. If you’d like to be served a drink by a gold medallist, go to the Bryanston Sports Club and ask for Prince Neluonde, the first black African to play in the Commonwealth Games for South Africa and the first to win a medal.
Khotso Mokoena, Cornel Fredericks, Sunette Viljoen, Samaai Rushwahl, Zarck Visser, Wayde van Niekerk and Andre Olivier showed that they had shrugged off the mess at Athletics South Africa.
They will be given the support on the road to Rio, said SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee president Gideon Sam.
While South Africa were winning medals, behind the scenes they were laying the foundations for their bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
There is much politicking and vote-seeking to be done between now and next year, when the decision is made in Auckland, New Zealand. The 2022 Games bid team have told the Commonwealth Games organisers that it is Africa’s time.
Last night, was Glasgow’s time as the Games ended with a closing ceremony described as a “typical night out” in that city. Kylie Minogue, 1960s singer Lulu and Deacon Blue, of Dignity fame, were the star performers.
Some of Sierra Leone’s athletes wanted the games to continue. They did not want to return home because of the ebola outbreak in their country.