South African shotput star Aiden Smith criticises the poor living conditions and limited nutrition at the African Senior Athletics Championships in Ghana, despite winning the men’s shot put event with a 20.01m throw. Picture: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
Image: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
South African shotput star Aiden Smith has slammed the living conditions at the African Senior Athletics Championships currently underway at the University of Ghana in Accra.
The competition began on Tuesday and runs until Sunday.
Smith won the men’s shot put event on the first day of competition with a 20.01m heave.
Smith alleges 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.
For Smith though, his gold medal in the shot put adds to his list of accolades including his triumph in the World University Games.
At the Akani Simbine Classic held late last month, Smith managed a winning throw of 20.5m to finish third.
“I was hoping for a massive throw, but the conditions didn’t allow it,” Smith told Olympics.com after the event.
“I was aiming for 21m, but I’m still very happy with the win,” he added.