The absence of our sports icon, Kim Collins, from the recently concluded London Olympic Games has, understandably, generated much heated debate around the world. The Olympics is the world’s biggest sporting spectacle, and it has been reported that Kim would have made history my being the first sprinter to participate in five Olympic games. Like most persons in the federation, I too have been emotionally touched by this disaster. However, I believe that much has been said as to who is to blame; we now have to start the healing process. I am, therefore, offering some suggestions toward this cause.
Firstly, I do not believe that the rest of the world would take us seriously from here on in, if we do not show some remorse and offer an apology for this international fiasco. As the writer of this article and a citizen of the federation, I wish to express regrets to anyone reading this article who suffered any discomfort from this situation. However, I am calling on the government to offer an official apology to the international sporting community for any inconvenience caused by this incident.
The events that unfolded in London must have been very traumatic for the parties directly involved: Kim and his wife, members of the SKNOC, members of the SKNAAA, the other athletes, and any other persons who were closely linked to the situation. I believe that counselling would not only be beneficial, but would be necessary for these persons, if any meaningful progress is to ensue. Counselling will place them in the right state of mind to be able to grasp what has happened and to be willing to participate in efforts to more on. Nothing meaningful can happen if this stage in not attained. A team of counsellors should be carefully selected to conduct this exercise.
Investigation into the matter can then begin, once persons are prepared to participate willingly and openly. This matter is too significant not to be investigated; here again, a team of investigators should be carefully selected, so as to extract the relevant information from persons participating in the exercise. This is also an important phase of the process and must be handled diligently.
My final suggestion pertains to the use of the information extracted from the investigation. After a thorough analysis of the data, systems must be but in place to ensure that this incident does not happen again. One such system should facilitate arbitration between athletes and officials, when they reach an impasse on any matter than can escalate into something damaging. This system should be proactive and should be able to sense when something in wrong, even before a formal complaint is made. Of course, it must be accepted and respected by all stakeholders for it to be effective.
I hope that those in positions to do so would start putting mechanisms in place towards understanding what went wrong and how it can be avoided in the future.
Congratulations to our athletes who participated in the 2012 London Olympics and to all who assisted you in getting to where you are. All the very best to you and other emerging athletes as you prepare for Brazil 2016.
