Eritrea’ssecond most decorated athlete made to miss Rio Olympics by his own federation Eritrean National Athletics Federation(ENAF) submitted three names of its runners for the 10,000 meter Olympics by leavingout and disappointing one of its best athletes who had a better chance for an Olympicmedal. He got an Olympic qualifying time onMay 28, 2016 in Eugene, OR–USA following Zerisenay Tadese. He finished 7th inthe 2012 London Olympics' 10K race with a time of 27:34.76. Eritrean National Athletics Federationdid not dare to say he is not qualified but submitted names of three otherrunners, excluding him and still taking him to Rio. He was handed a badge “P” (as arepresentative and not as an athlete) to his surprise upon his arrival in Rio. He probably was the only athlete in theOlympics with a badge “P”–useless for any country. No Eritrean athlete deserves this kindof treatment. This is not about this oneathlete and it is about future Eritrean athletes getting afair process of selection by competition like majority of other countries in the world. To make things worse, this athletealready dedicated his 2008 Olympics for Zerisenay to win a 10K medal by pullingmost of the first 5000 meters; a dedication that emanated from the love of acountry and looking for a best shot of an Olympic medal for his nation. He isalso one of the most contributing athletes to Eritrean runners. The moral of this great Eritreanathlete is down, the act devalues Eritrean athletics, and relevantorganizations/people need to extend their support for the athlete and call uponan investigation into the matter. If ENAFthinks made a good decision; it should be happy to explain the process.daniel
Received on Tue Aug 23 2016 - 12:13:50 EDT