Why Tanzania needs to reconsider using the universality window in the Olympics
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is being represented by seven athletes at this year's Olympics in Paris, France. However, three of them have been able to participate in the global multisport event through the universality entry programme and not through competitive qualification.
Tanzania sent two swimmers, Collins Saliboko and Sophia Latiff, and one Judoka, Andrew Mlugu, to the Olympics under the diversity card known as universality. Unfortunately, their overall performance was not good enough to see them advance to the next round of medal contention.
The first blow to the country came when Judoka Andrew Mlugu, despite winning his round of 32 judo clash against William Tai Tin of Samoa by a 10-1 scoreline, succumbed to a 10-0 defeat by Frenchman Joan Benjamin Gaba in a one-sided round of 16 matches held on July 29, 2024.
Mlugu was the first Tanzanian casualty. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be the last.
On July 30, Tanzania suffered another blow in the Olympic Games in France when swimmer Collins Saliboko did not advance to the next stage in the 100-meter freestyle.
Saliboko was in heat two and placed seventh after recording 53.38 seconds out of eight swimmers who competed at the Paris La Defense Arena swimming pool. His time was 1.16 seconds behind his seed time.
The event saw Ovesh Purahoo from Mauritius emerge at the top after recording 52.95, followed by Nixon Hernandez of El Salvador with 52.73.
Read: Judoka Mlugu misses medal at 2024 Paris Olympics
As a result, Saliboko was ranked 71st out of 79 swimmers, having collected 676 points. To advance, Collins needed to secure a spot among the top 16 swimmers out of a total of 79 in the freestyle category.
The final defeat for Tanzania, which summed up the poor performance of the athletes representing the country under the universality card, came on August 3, when swimmer Sophia Latiff failed to advance to the next stage.
Sophia competed in the 50 meters freestyle on August 3, 2024, finishing eighth out of eight swimmers. Jovana Kuljaca of Montenegro topped the heat with a time of 27.19, followed by Eritrean swimmer Christina Rach at 27.20, and Kennice Aphanie Greene of St. Vincent and the Grenadines at 27.23.
The three athletes who represented Tanzania at the Paris Olympics through the universality window were all unable to yield results for the country. This raised the question of whether Tanzania should continue sending athletes to the Olympics through the diversity window.
Unlike competitive qualification, universality places are a lifeline for athletes from underrepresented countries. They are designed to increase the diversity of participating nations across the sports program of the Olympic Games.
In 2023, the Tanzania Olympic Committee (TOC) urged athletes to focus on achieving qualifying marks for the 2024 Olympics rather than relying on universality entries. TOC Secretary General Filbert Bayi emphasized, "Those are normally for losers. We have done so for many years, and no medals were obtained by them.”
Bayi, an Olympic silver medalist in the 3000 meters steeplechase from the 1980 Moscow Olympics, highlighted the importance of competitive qualification. He pointed out that the qualification window for marathoners had been open since November 2022 and would close on April 30, 2024. Despite these efforts, Tanzania still sent three athletes under the universality arrangement.
Criticism of universality entries: Critics argue that universality entries often include less competitive athletes, which can lead to disappointing performances. The lack of a competitive qualification phase makes their participation incomparable to that of other athletes who have met stringent qualification standards.
Given the recent performances, Tanzania must reconsider its reliance on the universality window for future Olympics. Encouraging athletes to achieve competitive qualification marks will likely lead to better results and a more robust representation on the global stage.
Africa has 35 spots on the universality window, with four awarded to East Africa. This year, the slots were taken up by Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, and South Sudan.
