A Tempered Kind of Joy : South African Athletes Face Unrealistic Expectations at Home, Uncertainty Abroad as They Prepare to Return to International Spotlight After 32 Years

South Africa’s return to international athletic competition this summer, after more than 30 years of isolation, has been much like the former sports pariah’s departure--marked by protests, pickets and isolated celebrations.

This summer, South Africa returns to Olympic competition after having last competed--with an all-white delegation--at the 1960 Rome Games.

South Africa then was expelled from the International Olympic Committee because of its policy of apartheid and was readmitted only last summer, after most apartheid laws had been struck down by the South African Parliament.

The question now is what awaits the 97 South African athletes--black and white--who will make history as they march in the opening ceremony at the Barcelona Olympics?

Will they be warmly welcomed back to the family of international sport or held accountable for the unrest still rampant in their country?

If the world is wondering, so are South Africa, its athletes, coaches and administrators.

“We have absolutely no idea what to expect, but we’re terribly excited,” said Hugo Olivier, head of the Confederation of South African Sport. “There’s very, very big excitement and expectations here.”

Those expectations might be much too high, say some South African sports officials and athletes. They say that in most sports, it might take years to catch up with the rest of the world, pointing out that most South African athletes have never been outside their nation and that the pressure of the Games and the adjustment to new surroundings make more modest hopes realistic.

“Our standard is slightly behind because of the isolation,” Olivier said. “The whole thing is just so new. The public here is so accustomed to success, they will accept no less. In many cases, we must be satisfied with an athlete making a final, considering all they’ve been through.”

South Africa’s on-again, off-again readmission to the world sporting community has kept its athletes on edge. In track and field, for example, most believed that South Africa would be readmitted to the International Amateur Athletic Federation, the sport’s international governing body, in time to compete in the World Championships at Tokyo last September.

Because of that chance, South African athletes, who train and set their competition schedules according to the southern hemisphere’s opposite seasons, had to stay in shape an extraordinarily long time. But they did not get readmitted to the IAAF in time for the World Championships.

Finally, last winter, South Africa was readmitted to the IAAF, the last of the major sports federations to allow it back into international competition, and that decision paved the way for South Africa’s long-awaited participation in the Olympics.

But even that was not ensured, for politics was not finished with South African sport. A few weeks ago, the African National Congress asked international sports federations to consider reinstituting sports sanctions. Anti-apartheid groups have long adopted the slogan, “No normal sport in an abnormal society,” and invoked it again, complaining that the pace of democratic reform in South Africa is lagging.

The boycott threat was made as track and field athletes were packing for their first trip to Europe and a chance at international competition.

Tony Longhurst, a sports agent who led the group, said the threat was taken seriously.

“Absolutely,” he said. “These athletes have been through so much, they all say, ‘We’ll believe we’re in the Olympics when we’re on the start line.’ Politically, anything can happen at any time.”

A compromise was reached between the African National Congress and Sam Ramsamy, the president of the South African National Olympic Committee. Athletes competing in South Africa will be asked to visit the black township of Boipatong, south of Johannesburg, where 42 blacks were killed in tribal violence June 17. In addition, South African athletes and officials have agreed to make public statements condemning political violence.

A controversial aspect of the agreement is that South African Olympians have been asked to wear armbands reading, “‘Peace and democracy,” although it is unclear whether the IOC would allow this.

However, the IOC, which very much wanted South Africa’s participation in the Barcelona Games, has stepped in as a mediator. On Tuesday, the IOC invited ANC President Nelson Mandela to attend the opening ceremony on July 25, a gesture laden with symbolism but also a shrewd political move.

Mandela will see South Africa’s first black Olympians marching into the stadium, with one more political twist. Because the South African flag represents to many the 40 years of apartheid’s cruelty, the team will march under the banner of South Africa’s Olympic committee. If a South African should win a gold medal, the IOC anthem, “Ode to Joy,” will be played instead of the South African national anthem.

South Africans will be able to watch the Olympics on television for the first time. After years of seeing only brief clips on newscasts, suddenly the full spectacle of the Olympics will be available.

“Everyone will be glued to the television,” said Gwen Dejong, administrative director of the South African Gymnastics Union. “Every child in this country is going to get an absolute feast.”

The feast probably will be short on South African fare, however. The nation’s best athletes are in track and field, where a team of 17 will be sent. Best known among them is Zola Budd Pieterse, but teammate Elana Meyer has the better current credentials, holding world rankings from 1,500 to 10,000 meters.

Pieterse already has had a taste of what the South Africans might experience. Pieterse, who left her hastily adopted country of England amid a blizzard of tabloid headlines after suffering a nervous breakdown there in 1988, returned last week to compete as a citizen of her homeland and was received as an unwilling but indelible symbol of apartheid. She was roundly booed during a 3,000-meter race at London’s Crystal Palace and did not finish.

Also on the team is javelin thrower Tom Petranoff. Petranoff, the former world record-holder and U.S. Olympian from Oceanside, was banned from U.S. competition for 12 years after having defied a ban and competed in South Africa in 1988. Petranoff and his family have lived near Johannesburg since then and Petranoff is now a South African citizen.

His place on the team is controversial, not only because of his recent citizenship, but also because he is taking a spot on the team that could have gone to a nonwhite.

Even though South Africa conducted Olympic trials for track and field, the final team was chosen by 10 “selectors.” Of the 39 athletes who met the Olympic standard in their events, only 17 were chosen. The selectors had a delicate task--choose the team on merit, but also make sure that it reflected the ethnic diversity of the sport.

“Of course they didn’t want an all-white team,” said Bobby McGee, South Africa’s Olympic marathon coach. “It was a tough job. The selectors were basically told to choose on merit, but make sure it was a representative team. It’s like the old military expression, ‘Stand in alphabetical order according to height.’ ”

The result: seven blacks and 10 whites.

The runners, like those in other aerobic sports, will benefit from their years of living and training at altitude.

The other strong sports for South Africa are yachting, where 11 sailors will be sent, equestrian and swimming and diving, with an all-white team of 13.

South Africa initially wanted to send a total of 125 athletes, but the IOC said it had housing for only 50. Negotiations led to the final figure of 97.

Among the swimmers will be freestyle sprinter Peter Williams, who set a world record at 50 meters during a time trial run concurrent with the 1988 Olympics. Williams is one of several swimmers and divers who compete or have competed at American universities.

“We have hope to put no pressure on our swimmers, we have no expectations,” said Martin Bezuidenhout, chairman of the South Africa Swimming Board. “Our top priority is going to be for them to get that international experience and come back and communicate that to our swimmers left at home. We are really looking at Atlanta in 1996 as being a true test of our talent. I expect we’ll be 30% improved by then.”

The problem of realistic expectations has already been faced by the South African gymnasts. As were athletes in soccer, field hockey and volleyball--sports that hold Olympic qualifying tournaments--the gymnasts were readmitted too late to qualify for the 1992 Olympics.

But the gymnasts were the first South Africans to return to international competition, attending the World Championships at Indianapolis last fall. They know firsthand the public reaction to anything less than perfection.

“Expectations are at an unrealistic level,” said Gwen Dejong of the South African Gymnastics Union. “When our kids were in Indianapolis, we within the gymnastics federation were pleased that the gymnasts could come out of such isolation and not crack under the pressure. But the South African public, I don’t know if it was fickle or uninformed. They believed we had done poorly.

“I think it’s happening now, too. These athletes are under terrific pressure. They are sitting here with people who think they are going to walk out and kill the world. It’s not going to happen.”

Dejong and others say that despite the public’s expectations, South Africa’s participation in the Olympics might help ease tension and bring a helpful shot of pride to the country during a season of ethnic and political violence.

Sport, they say, in its time-honored fashion, might provide South Africans something to unify them, not tear them apart.

“The Games were conceived in order to try and divert that tendency to war,” Dejong said. “They stopped wars during the Olympics. The idea was to replace the implements of war with competition.

“I think the Olympics will have a good effect on us here. We need it. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but I think sport holds the key for us.”