Will London 2012 be any different?

capacities, all the past four editions from 1996 to 2008 and God willing, I will soon head to London for what could be another memorable show.
Being chef de mission for Team Zimbabwe in 1996 (Atlanta, USA) and 2004 (Athens, Greece) will always remain defining moments of my long sports career.
At the Atlanta Games, I was one of the younger and less experienced chefs and I was leading Team Zimbabwe which was however, not short of experience among its managers, coaches and medical team.
This was a big challenge into which I was thrust by none other than Tommy Sithole who was then president of the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee.
I was not even a member of ZOC then but it was felt that I had proven my mettle as president of the then Amateur Athletic Association of Zimbabwe (AAAZ) which was at the time riding on a crest of wave.
Two years earlier, Sithole, who seemed to have had a vision of developing capacity among some sports administrators and leaders (and I am saying this in hindsight), had again insisted that I should lead Team Zimbabwe at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, and it is my understanding that the positive feedback ZOC received regarding my performance in Victoria convinced them to give me another go in Atlanta which was in fact an elevation.
Fortunately I did not disappoint on both counts and Sithole was therefore vindicated; I pay tribute to him for giving me the much-needed exposure and the opportunities to demonstrate my leadership and managerial competence; he opened the door for me and the rest as they say is history.
Being chef de mission is an enormous responsibility and certainly not an assignment for the faint-hearted.
You are always on your toes because you want success for your team but what if something goes wrong?
You are probably the last person to go to bed (I do not remember sleeping before midnight) and you are the first to wake up; in any case you are required to attend chefs de mission meetings as early as 7am when other members would still be in deep slumber.
True there are some chefs who are notorious for missing chefs meetings and then pestering counterparts to find out what transpired in the session and their team members end up with second or third hand information; we all know how information can be distorted in such scenarios.
At times you have to make difficult decisions and there is also need to deal with crisis situations including possible conflict within the team; it is not easy even for members of one team to stay together for two or three weeks and you begin to see the true characters which are usually initially hidden, masked or suppressed.
The chefs role is multi-faceted because this is not a ceremonial position; the chef has to operate like a chief executive officer and hence the need for delegation of responsibilities among the team’s management but the chef cannot pass the buck.
You take full responsibility if anything goes wrong and you share credit with the entire team if all goes well; that is how it works.
In Atlanta I did not have a written job description and I was only appointed to the post a few months before the Games. I did not even have the opportunity to attend the Chefs de Mission seminar which is usually held a year before the Olympics as the formal induction and orientation process for the chefs.
I relied almost entirely on the chef de mission’s manual and worked around the clock to meet set deadlines for accreditation, sports entries and other requirements.
I also had to finalise travel as well as kit and uniform arrangements in a short space of time.
This could be regarded as on the job training but the problem was that I ended up training myself.
Fortunately I had kept my eyes and ears open on previous team management assignments mainly with the athletics team and of course I will never forget the infamous baptism of fire at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, when the “Ishe Komborera Afrika” anthem was played during our flag raising ceremony (also known as team welcome ceremony) instead of the “Simudzai Mureza weZimbabwe” which had been officially commissioned earlier in the same year.
I insisted on the correct national anthem being played because I had personally confirmed the authenticity of the national anthem played to me by the organisers before the ceremony.
What I had not been aware of though was the fact that the organisers had both versions in their library and as it happened the old version had inadvertently been pulled out for the ceremony.
The flag had to be raised again to the sound of the new anthem whose title ironically aptly defined the essence of this particular ceremony.
The experienced management team that I had in Atlanta was a plus and I made full use of this factor in guiding and managing Team Zimbabwe.
The athletes’ contingent in Team Zimbabwe just like in subsequent editions of the Games was just above a dozen sportspersons from athletics, boxing, cycling, swimming and tennis.
Our best performance came from Tendai Chimusasa with his 13th placing in the marathon.
In fact he is the only athlete in the team who qualified for the performance incentives made available by ZOC.
His performance was considered to be the equivalent of a finalist in a track event (since the marathon is a straight final).
Our sports kit and uniform was sponsored by Asics, thanks to Chimusasa who had a lucrative sponsorship contract with this brand and we leveraged this business relationship to our advantage.
It was therefore fitting, and gratifying for the sponsors, that Chimusasa performed well in his favourite marathon event.
Team Zimbabwe’s participation in the Atlanta Games was adjudged to be a success, all things considered, and I was relieved that I had not been found wanting on this momentous occasion.
I felt I was gaining relevant experience and  growing in the profession of persons (sports administrators) who usually turn out to be unsung heroes perhaps getting a little fame but no fortune unlike athletes today who get both.
It was at the Atlanta 1996 IOC Session that Sithole was elected as a member of the IOC and we all shared in his joy and celebrated this historic achievement with him. Next week I will move onto my recollections on the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, when I bounced back as the chef de mission of Team Zimbabwe after Paul Chingoka had led the team to Sydney 2000.
Who knew that Athens 2004 would be the crowning moment for Team Zimbabwe which had endured a medal drought for what seemed like an eternity… the last 24 years?