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Olympians call for action
Johannesburg - On their return from Athens on Tuesday morning, the South African Olympic team called on the National Olympic Committee of SA (Nocsa), the sporting bodies and the media to work closer together in order to better promote the smaller sporting codes.
South Africa returned from the Olympic Games with six medals - one gold, three silver and two bronze - but while the athletes thanked Nocsa and the media, they stressed the need to strengthen support for all of the codes.
In a statement signed by all of the athletes they said that while they had greatly benefited from the support and coverage in the period surrounding the Olympics, they were aware that unless this closeness remained intact on a sustained basis, South African sport would never be able to flourish and reach its full potential.
"Many of us from smaller sports codes are painfully aware of the way in which we are overshadowed by the larger codes with their access to larger administration, extensive media coverage and subsequent sponsorship deals," said the statement.
"In addition to this, female athletes in South Africa have been consistently under-represented in the media. We feel that South African sports administration and the media need to take further deliberate steps towards promoting the development of all of our sporting codes and especially women in sport.
"It is in the spirit of development that we, the athletes of the 2004 Olympics, therefore request that administration and media work together with us, even after the glow of the Games has faded, to help strengthen our codes through the continuation of sound management and good coverage."
Team SA went on to wish the Paralympic team success in their upcoming Games.
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