FILE. The African Senior Athletics Championships in Ghana faced further controversy with equipment failure during the pole vault event and complaints from athletes about inadequate living conditions and food supply. Picture: ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP
Image: ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP
Fresh off controversy surrounding living conditions in the athlete accommodation, there has now been severe equipment failure during the pole vault at the African Senior Athletics Championships currently underway at the University of Ghana in Accra.
According to reports, at least two poles broke during the men’s decathlon pole vault event, with a video emerging on X showing South African athlete Morne van As competing.
Though the video feed breaks up at points, it can clearly be seen that the pole breaks on Van As as he attempts to make his jump.
It was unclear if he was injured after crashing into the mat midway through his launch as he got up with what appeared to be a limp, but it could have even been fatal.
The competition began on Tuesday and runs until Sunday.
Earlier this week, South African shotput star Aiden Smith said that the food supplied in the athlete village is severely limited and living conditions in general are far from satisfactory.
“When we ask for food, they fight with us. At the dining hall, we were told we couldn’t take more than one portion, either chicken or fish, not both,” said Smith.
“As athletes, we need to eat properly and recover, but there were constant limits even when we asked for more. In the morning, they would give us half an egg or just one egg while I eat eight to 20 eggs daily. We also had no blankets in our rooms, which made the conditions even worse for athletes at a major championship.”
This is not the first time that an African Championship has been slammed for its organisation and poor conditions for athletes.
In the 2018 African Championships in Nigeria, the performances from that event were not recognised by World Athletics.