On the road to Paris, can Caster and Wayde return to the top?

An important question hangs heavy over South Africa’s ambitions on the athletics track in the build up to the 2024 Paris Olympics: What’s going on with our champions?

After winning gold medals at the 2016 Rio Games, Wayde van Niekerk and Caster Semenya were notably absent from the podium at last year’s Tokyo showpiece.

And with the sport struggling to find much in terms of depth at the moment, we must ask whether these athletes can still be relied upon to carry the national team, or whether the country’s remaining few stars will need to dig deep and take that step up in order to avoid another medal drought in Paris.

Semenya, a two-time Olympic 800m champion, has fought valiantly for the right to compete against women in middle-distance events, but the battle isn’t really in her hands anymore, and it remains unclear whether her legal team has much room left to throw any punches.

Having taken her fight to multiple courts in Europe, Semenya remains stranded, and while the national government, Athletics SA and global human rights groups are still in her corner, the country’s top athlete is having to look on with frustration as the back end of her career flutters by.

Though she insists she will continue to appeal the decision to ban hyperandrogenic athletes, it seems unlikely we will see her on the track in the 800m event again.

Even if she wins her case over the next couple of years, when she does return, Semenya will probably be past her best. That is sad to have to admit, but it’s true.

In contrast, for Van Niekerk, a potential return to the podium in Paris requires just one thing: stamina.

Since bouncing back from a serious knee injury, Van Niekerk has displayed an impressive turn of speed, but he just doesn’t have the legs yet to carry him home in a 400m race.

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But he didn’t break the world record by sitting on his ass, and he is no doubt grinding away at his new base in the United States in an attempt to regain the killer form which saw him consistently beating the best in the world.

If he can find the strength he needs, Van Niekerk has the ability to shine again at this year’s World Championships and Commonwealth Games, and unlike Semenya, it’s all in his hands as he targets the Paris Olympics.

We have other medal contenders in the build-up to the Games, but it will be a relief if Van Niekerk can find his best form. It will be even better if Semenya is allowed back on the track while she still has a chance to be competitive.

But at this stage, in terms of their potential return to the top, for both athletes it’s really still up in the air. All we can do is hope.