Farewell, Algeria

The athletes of Team South Africa were yesterday treated to a farewell lunch at the Sofitel Hotel. Among the dignatories in attendance were the Deputy Minister, Mr Gert Oosthuizen, Mr Sam Ramsamy, and the South African Ambassador, Mr Moloi.

For many of the athletes, a decent meal was indeed a treat after two weeks of eating what Mr Oosthuizen called 'the equivalent of a Red Cross emergency meal'. Not that it was particularly bad, but you can only eat out of a cardboard box so many times before it loses its appeal.

 So they really laid into the appetizing food, but it was well deserved. Having observed many participants from floor level - I had a press pass enabling me to see competitors first hand - I can honestly say that all participants were focused on delivering their best, and deserved equal honour, medal or no medal.

Later in the afternoon some of the athletes visited the exhibition centre where we had the 2010 expo stand, but I could see by their listlessness all that was on their minds was getting home.

We broke down the exhibition at around four in the afternoon, and there was the usual exhibition stampede of visitors trying to score the last few give-aways we had to get rid of. One of the Algerian students who were helping out at the exhibition came to us, genuinely upset but the way his countrymen were behaving. We explained that this kind of behaviour happens at all exhibitions, no matter where in the world it took place. He felt a bit better after that, but was clearly embarrassed by his fellow Algerians.