Team SA Shows Resilience at Paris Olympics
Team South Africa has shown commendable fortitude at the 2024 Paris Olympics Games, having participated in five sporting codes on Saturday.
The team started with five medals but javelin thrower Jo-Ane van Dyk upped it to six with a brilliant effort of 63.93m.
Nearly 150 athletes represented Team South Africa at Paris 2024 in the country’s 21st appearance at the Olympic Games from 26 July to 11 August.
South Africa came into the Games looking to improve on their performance in Tokyo 2020 in 2021 where they won three medals courtesy of the gold and silver from Tatjana Smith (Schoenmaker) and silver from Bianca Buitendag.
Paris 2024 Olympics: South Africa’s medal winners – full list
| No | Date | Athlete/Team | Medal | Event | Sport |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 July | South Africa | Bronze | Men’s competition | Rugby sevens |
| 2 | 29 July | Alan Hatherly | Bronze | Men, cross country | Mountain Bike |
| 3 | 29 July | Tatjana Smith | Gold | Women, 100m breaststroke | Swimming |
| 4 | 1 August | Tatjana Smith | Silver | Women, 200m breaststroke | Swimming |
| 5 | 9 August | Bayanda Walaza, Shaun Maswanganyi, Bradley Nkoana, Akani Simbine | Silver | Men, 4x100m | Athletics |
| 6 | 10 August | Jo-Ane van Dyke | Silver | Women, javelin | Athletics |
Paris 2024: South Africa’s medal winners by sport
| Sport | Gold medal | Silver medal | Bronze medal | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rugby sevens (men) | 1 | 1 | ||
| Cycling | 1 | 1 | ||
| Swimming | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Athletics | 2 | 1 | ||
| TOTAL | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
“Also in finals action at a packed Stade de France on Saturday night were high jumper Brian Raats and the men’s 4x400m relay squad.
“The men’s marathon saw Elroy Galant and Stephen Mokoka take to the Paris roads and hills. Galant finished a fine 11th overall, in 2hr 9min 7sec, while Mokoka crossed the line in 27th position, dipping under 2:11 by one second,” the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) said.
Canoeist Hamish Lovemore won his 1000m B-Final, which placed him 9th overall to end his Games on a high.
“Wrestler Nicholas de Lange was always going to be up against it in terms of his draw, and lost his match, while golfers Ashleigh Buhai and Paula Reto wrapped up four days at Le National Golf.
“China, with 38 golds, the United States (with 37), Australia (18), Japan (17) and France (15) took the lead in the medal standings. Team SA are 40th with one gold (Tatjana Smith), three silvers (Smith, men’s 4x100m and Van Dyk) and two bronzes (men’s Sevens rugby and Alan Hatherly),” SASCOC said.
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Athletics
• Men’s marathon: Elroy Galant finished 11th in 2hr 9min 7sec, some 2min 41sec behind the gold medallist, Tamarat Tola. The Ethiopian set an Olympic record in winning in 2:06:26. Stephen Mokoka was 27th, with a time of 2:10:59.
• Men’s high jump, final: Brian Raats finished 12th with an opening height of 2.17m.
• Women’s javelin, final: SILVER! Jo-Ane van Dyk threw a distance of 63.93m to take second. position.
• Men’s 4x400m, final: Team SA finished 5th behind the United States in a national record 2:58.12.
Canoeing
• Men’s kayak single 1000m semi-finals: Hamish Lovemore finished 8th in 3:38.39 and qualified for the B-final.
• Men’s kayak single 1000m B-Final: Lovemore won his race in 3:27.94, which would have placed him fourth in the A-final, and he took 9th place overall.
Cycling
• Men’s keiren, first round heats: Jean Spies finished 6th in his heat and advanced to the repechage.
• Men’s keiren, repechage: Jean Spies finished 5th in his heat and didn’t progress to the quarter-finals.
Golf women’s individual, final round
• T13th 285 Ashleigh Buhai 68, 73, 74, 70 (3-under).
• T44th 299 Paula Reto 78, 73, 76, 72 (11-over).
Team SA Shows Resilience at Paris Olympics
I THINK SOUTH AFRICA HAS DONE WELL COMPARE TO THE OTHERS BETTER THAN NOTHING IT SHOWS THAT THERE IS TALENT IN OUR COUNTRY . AND I WOULD LIKE TO SEE OTHER SPORTING CODES AND TO DEVELOP TALENT FROM OUR SCHOOLS