SOUTH AFRICA'S remarkable sporting renaissance was further enhanced yesterday after Josia Thugwane came out of the pack to win the Olympic marathon as the centennial Games came to an end in Atlanta.
Thuawane is the first black South African to triumph in the supreme test of endurance, but the country previously claimed the title in 1912.
The winning time of two hours 12 minutes 35 seconds reflected the punishing conditions in spite of a 7.05 a.m. start but, in the end, the race provided a worthy winner.
The Korean, Bong Ju Lee, who was the first to go in pursuit of the champion when he strode to the front shortly after halfway, took the silver medal, with Eric Wainaina of Kenya finishing third.
Martin Fiz, the Spaniard whom many described as champion in waiting, finished fourth after losing contact with the leaders at 11 miles and immediately behind him was Britain's Richard Nerurkar.
With few prepared to trust Atlanta's notorious weather it wasn't until the 10 mile mark, reached in 51 minutes 12 seconds, that the lending group of 50 began to break up.
By halfway there were still as many as 25 athletes with realistic hopes of success but, gradually, the group began to thin out after Thugwane opened a gap of 10 yards.
Within another mile, he had been joined by Lee and then Wainaina, seeking to become the first Kenyan to win the title detached himself from the pack to join them.
They stayed in close proximity for much of the next eight miles but, with the stadium in sight, Thugware made another surge and this time there was no response from those behind.
Meanwhile, an uneasy truce between the Olympic Council of Ireland and BLE was in place yesterday after a week in which relations between the two hit an all time low.
Pat Hickey, the OCI's president, is, it seems, unrepentant about his role in the dispute which the majority have found distasteful as it was at a time when Michelle Smith's achievements put Ireland in the eye of the sporting world.
Hickey blames the media for the escalation of the conflict but, the more plausible reason, perhaps was his decision to call a press conference last Monday when many of his statements on the circumstances, which led to Sonia O'Sullivan being forced to change her clothing in public before the 5,000 metres preliminaries, were challenged.
The Minister for Sport, Bernard Allen, has been in Atlanta for much of the last week and privately expressed dismay at the manner in which an internal squabble was inflated into a public debate.
The OCI, which is funded almost exclusively by the exchequer, is seen by many as forcing the pace in the rift, which started over the uniform worn by members of the Irish track and field squad.
In line with contractual obligations, BLE registered Asics as the suppliers of the official clothing of the track and field team, a decision which ran counter to the OCI's contract with rival sportswear company Reebok.
Nick Davis, manger of the track and field team, was summoned by the OCI to a meeting in the Olympic village on Saturday but, at his insistence, talks were deferred for at least another week.
Later, Terry McHugh, captain of the track and field team, issued a statement on behalf of 18 athletes expressing full support for BLE.
