By Larry Lombaard
National 800m champion Hezekiel Sepeng, with Olympic, world championship and Commonwealth Games silver medals on his resume, has been axed from the South African Olympic team to Athens in August.
His transgression of the Olympic criteria rules this season was the final straw and the "silver surfer" of the world 800m circuit has paid the ultimate price for his disobedience.
Sepeng met the A-qualifying status for Olympic qualification and when he beat Mbulaeni Mulaudzi in a cliffhanger photo-finish for the South African title in Durban last month, he thought that his booking to Athens was secure. Until Tuesday's bombshell at ASA house in Houghton.
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"Sepeng failed to compete in two Absa Series meetings in the 800m this year," said ASA CEO Banele Sindani on announcing the provisional athletics team for Athens.
"The reason given is that he misunderstood the selection criteria. He admitted that it was his fault, and requested the ASA Executive Board to consider his position in a positive light.
"The board considered Sepeng's case very carefully. The Board noted that in a similar manner, Sepeng violated ASA's selection criteria for the world championships in Paris last year. ASA condoned Sepeng's actions then, but called a press conference to issue a public, and final warning, to him.
"The public warning was aimed at drawing the public's attention to the serious difficulty ASA were having with Sepeng's continued disregard for ASA's rules and regulations."
Compounding this was the fact that Sepeng, after racing on the European circuit, created huge controversy when he went missing in Holland when he should have been racing the 800m at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games where Mulaudzi captured gold.
"The Board feels that in the past they have bent backwards to accommodate Sepeng's ill-discipline, with the hope that he would turn over a new leaf.
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