Madiba ‘magic’ sweeps through sports

When it came to sports, Mandela had the ability to inspire inspirational figures and leave global stars awestruck. His death last Thursday at the age of 95 led to a vast outpouring of tributes from the world's best-known athletes and top sporting bodies.

Mandela once said that “sports has the power to change the world…it has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sports can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.”

All nations need symbolic moments when the people, gripped by a sense of energy and idealism, become united. For the majority of countries, those moments come at the end of a war or after a revolution; for the modern South Africa, bitter and hard as the struggle against apartheid was, rebirth came on the sports field. Sports therefore became the vehicle around which South Africa's first black president rallied his racially separated country.

But Mandela's interest in sports wasn't just for the grand occasion and the photo opportunity. A keen amateur boxer and runner in his youth, he understood the intricacies of rugby, soccer and cricket; the most popular sports in his country, but even games and players the South African wouldn't have been familiar with were touched by him.