Fighting Talk: Why Oscar ran and speedy Simon didn't

When Simon Magakwe blitzed the 10-second barrier for the 100m at the weekend, he precipitated a blizzard of criticism aimed at South Africa's Olympic committee.

This was partly because of his 9.98sec time on the Tukkies track, and also because of the timing - slap bang in the middle of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial.

The first cynical tweet I noticed went something like: "Is this the guy Sascoc [the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee] didn't take to the London Olympics?"

Indeed he was. In 2012 Magakwe ran six qualifying times in the 100m and another two in the 200m, but that wasn't enough to make the team.

It also didn't take tweeters long to remember that Pistorius, standing trial for shooting dead Reeva Steenkamp last year, had competed in London, even though he had managed only one 400m qualifying time.

Sascoc took a grilling this weekend and deservedly so - but not for the reason that many critics raised.

Some claimed Sascoc had taken Pistorius to London at the expense of Magakwe, but the truth of the matter is that Sascoc did not err on their application of the qualifying standards for athletics and swimming.

To recap: athletes and swimmers were required to perform two qualifying standards, one of which had to be achieved at a competition with international status (the norm for most countries - and in South Africa for previous Games - is one qualifying time).

Sascoc's reason for the double qualification requirement was supposed to guarantee that South Africa's competitors would perform well.

All eight of Magakwe's qualifying times were clocked in local meets, none of which had international recognition. That is why he was not selected.

Pistorius would not have been in the Olympic squad had it not been for the 4x400m relay, which had secured qualification at the 2011 World Championships.

The double amputee was the first choice for that relay because he was the fastest 400m runner in 2012.

The relay was Pistorius's ticket to London, and from there he was permitted to compete in the individual race as well.

But there was no such reprieve available for Magakwe - the 100m relay team did not qualify.

Magakwe was not the only athlete to be left at home, by the way; Wenda Nel got two qualifying times in the 400m hurdles in Pretoria, but she didn't go either.

In terms of the qualifying criteria, Sascoc were right not to take Magakwe and Nel.

But they were wrong for imposing the double-qualifying criteria in the first place, and for this Athletics SA (ASA) and Swimming SA (SSA) must share the blame because they agreed to it.

Their logic was flawed.

Firstly, only about a quarter of athletes and swimmers actually performed at their peak at the London Games.

Secondly, the criteria might have cost South Africa a medal, although it was not in the men's 100m.

Magakwe's time on Saturday would have just been enough to squeeze him into the 2012 final, and it would have been 0.19sec off the London podium.

No, South Africa's possible medal casualty was 1500m athlete Johan Cronje.

He was omitted for running only one qualifying time, and while we will never know for sure what he might have done, this race is more about tactics than raw times.

A year later Cronje won bronze at the World Championships, South Africa's only medal in Moscow.

Hopefully Sascoc and member federations like ASA and SSA will have learned something by the time they devise the qualifying standards for Rio 2016.

One qualifying time should be enough.