2016 Olympics is almost here
The year 2016 is a special year for sport, as it is the year of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The festival atmosphere of an Olympic city combined with the thrill of competing in the Olympics is something all Olympians will remember for the rest of their lives.
One such memorial Olympic experience was that of boxer Giovanni Pretorius, a prominent member of the East Rand Veterans Boxing Association (ERVBA) and a resident of the South just outside Alberton in Eikenhof. Giovanni spoke to the RECORD about his participation in the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992 when South Africa was re-admitted to the Olympic arena after 32 years.
The last Olympic Games SA had participated in was in 1960 in Rome. Dawie du Plessis who became a Springbok in 1958, was the first Alberton sportsman to represent the country in the Olympic Games in the shooting sports code.
Alberton’s Olympic pride in the 2012 London Olympic Games, consisted of BMX track star Sifiso Nhlapo from Alrode BMX and Sports Club, Verwoerd Park’s Protea hockey player Bernadette Coston and Janine van Wyk the Hoërskool Alberton alumnus and captain of the national women’s soccer team who has already qualified for Rio.
Giovanni Pretorius, the SA professional boxing champion in 1996, admits that one of his prize possessions is the SA Olympic award bestowed upon him. Who will be the next Alberton or Ekurhuleni sportsman to be the town’s Olympian pride and joy?
