DAVID ISAACSON | Athletics South Africa's dilemma — which relay might have to be sacrificed

It seems a bizarre notion, but South African athletics may have to sacrifice a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Track and field didn’t win a gong at the last Games in Tokyo, nor at the past three world championships from 2019 to 2023, but the men’s and mixed-gender 4x400m outfits both possess podium potential this year.

They must still qualify for the Games at World Relays in Bahamas on May 4 and 5 — and there’s a good chance they will — but after that a possible dilemma faces national relay coach Paul Gorries.

If everyone is healthy and at their best, a choice will most likely have to be made between stacking the mixed and men’s teams in Paris.

If one adds up the personal best 400m times of the four fastest men — Lythe Pillay (44.31), Zakithi Nene (44.74) and Gardeo Isaacs (45.15) — and throw in Wayde van Niekerk’s best time from last year (44.08), their combined 2 min 58.28 sec would place them fifth at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Factor in flying starts for three of the competitors and they’re entering medal territory.

Then you have the mixed-gender 4x400m relay, where the combined 3:10.97, made up of Van Niekerk and Pillay along with Zeney Geldenhuys (50.81) and Shirley Nekhubui (51.77) would also have placed fifth at Tokyo 2020.

Both combined relay times are lower than the current national records, with the mixed team four seconds lower. The men’s 4x400m is nearly a full second quicker.

But it’s probably not feasible to have Van Niekerk and Pillay running both relays as well as their individual events while performing at their best throughout.

Van Niekerk, the Rio 2016 champion, has made the 400m final at the past two world championships, while Pillay has burst onto the fringes of becoming a medal contender.

Up to seven races in the space of nine days would be gruelling. For Van Niekerk and Pillay, their schedules could read: Day 1: mixed relay heats; Day 2: mixed relay final; Day 3: 400m heats; Day 4: rest day; Day 5: 400m semifinals; Day 6: 400m final; Day 7: rest day; Day 8: 4x400m heats and Day 9: 4x400m final.

And should Van Niekerk and Pillay win medals in all three events, they would be the first South African athletes to do that at a single Games since Bevil Rudd at Antwerp in 1920, also the only occasion to date the country has won a relay gong in track and field. 

One might substitute Van Niekerk and Pillay in the mixed relay heats, with Nene and Isaacs possibly still able to go fast enough to get the team into the final.

But they would need Van Niekerk and Pillay in the final to challenge for the podium.

And then if Van Niekerk, Pillay and even Nene get to the final in their individual competition, what would they have left in the tank for the men’s relay?

They would probably all need to run in the heats to ensure the men’s relay gets to the final. 

On paper all three events offer medal possibilities, so which one would they sacrifice?

The men’s 400m could, theoretically, offer two medals for South Africa, which would make that impossible to scrap.

Which means one relay might have to be sacrificed? 

Whatever unfolds, it would be an unusual position for South Africa to be in.