Elections over, now it’s back to Rio

WOMEN are on an equal footing in the Olympics. For the past week It was not the Rio Olympics but the local elections which took centre stage in South Africa where we saw the dominance of the mighty ANC challenged. A significant shift in power left the ruling party licking its wounds. Now the race is run and the horse-trading has begun, we can focus on the world’s greatest sporting spectacle in Brazil’s exotic city.

The Olympics never fail to excite and amaze me. Here we have all the nations of the world gathered, big and small, rich and poor, not engaging in a belligerent, destructive game of warfare with guns and bombs but competing with skill, muscular power and artistic flair for honour and Olympic gold.

While it’s heartening to see women participants from Muslim countries like Morocco, Egypt, Pakistan, Malaysia and Turkey, we must spare a thought for the millions of suppressed women in ultra-conservative, fundamentalist Islamic states who are barred from engaging in any kind of sports

Nevertheless, the women Olypmpians fill me with admiration. Women now participate in all codes of sport, but to see these super athletes overcome the gender barrier and compete on an equal footing with the men in the Olympics never fails to excite me. Imagine women in rowing, archery, fencing, boxing, rugby and soccer, which were once the sole preserve of men. Some can kick a ball better than some of the overrated and overpaid male soccer stars.

Unfortunately the women’s soccer team Banyana Banyana could not give their feminine gender a victory to celebrate on Women’s Day after they were knocked out in the group stages.

Only the best, the cream of the world’s athletes, can compete successfully on the world’s greatest sporting stage. The ANC’s quota system will not ever win an Olympic gold. T MARKANDAN Silverglen