An Olympic year is usually characterised by a mad dash for cash as corporates realise they have some extra boodle to burn and the possibility of staking a claim on an athlete when they perform on the greatest stage of them all.
Although the four years between the quadrennial spectacles are called an Olympic cycle, nothing seems to happen from a sponsorship point of view until the actual year of the global showpiece event.
Despite constant calls by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) for businesses to invest on the longer term, they prefer conspicuous consumption.
Money is always welcome for the country’s so-called Cinderella sports that stand to benefit most from cash injections that may come Sascoc’s way.
This week a parastatal and private bank came out of the woodwork to declare their undying support of South African sport.
Neither termed their involvement a sponsorship - instead it was called a partnership or a collaboration.
When money is tight, the National Olympic Committee and their member federations will not scoff at willing benefactors.
But they often sell themselves short by selling their souls to the first company that shows interest.
What usually follows is a drop-and-go show where the corporate gets mileage from their association with an Olympic champion before moving on to greener pastures.
That cash injection plugs a few holes in the year of the Games but it is the three years in bet-ween that is crucial to an athlete’s development from merely being an Olympian to becoming a champion.
Granted, it is tough selling something that is not guaranteed to bear fruit four years down the line but it is not impossible.
The upside is that you can say you have been part of the journey, and can lay claim to the success of a specific athlete or sport.
Few truly understand how difficult it is just to become an Olympian and to many it is their Halley’s Comet and the preceding years of hard work it takes to the Games.
With the Games almost two months away, the cheerleaders are in full force, and sponsors seem to be aplenty.
Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula launched his battle cry at the telecommunication parastatal Telkom’s announcement of their sponsorship of the South African team for the Olympics.
The attitude towards Olympic sports was perhaps best demonstrated by Mbalula’s slip of the tongue that this year’s Games will be hosted in Athens.
“I am happy there were also women that brought back medals from Athens when we were accepted back,” Mbalula said.
“The trajectory has been up and the only slowdown has been Beijing where we came back with one medal only.
“We want our national anthem to be sung on the podium of Athens like we did in London.”
The Minister would be forgiven his gaffe but it is perhaps indicative of the country’s general attitude towards the showpiece event.
Four years ago, the South African team returned with six medals - three gold, two silver and a bronze - its biggest medal haul since readmission.
Medals clearly don’t translate to major sponsorships with swimming and athletics - traditionally the biggest contributors of silverware - still operating without any significant sponsors.
This could partly be blamed on dysfunctional federations but it also indicates that South African business has no appetite for the Olympic Games. – Saturday Star