Alan Hatherly during the men's cross country mountain bike race at the Paris Olympics. Picture: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP
Alan Hatherly produced a stunning ride on Monday to step on the podium at the Paris Olympics, securing South Africa’s second medal of the Games.
Hatherly snatched bronze in the men’s cross country mountain bike race, adding to the bronze earned by the SA men’s rugby sevens team at the weekend.
Ranked fourth in the world going into the event, Hatherly led the pack through the first of eight laps in the 35.2km race. And while French rider Victor Koretzky was able to make a break, the South African was alone in second place at the halfway mark.
He was later passed by defending champion Tom Pidcock of Great Britain, who went on to win gold in 1:26:22, and Koretzky bagged silver in 1:26:31.
Hanging on in the closing stages, Hatherly crossed the finish line in third position, just two seconds further back in 1:26:33.
Competing at his third Olympics, Hatherly became the first South African cyclist to earn a medal at the Games since 1956, and the first to achieve the feat in mountain bike racing.
Later on Monday, in the swimming pool, Tatjana Smith (100m breaststroke) and Pieter Coetze (100m backstroke) were set to line up among the podium favourites in the finals over two lengths in their specialist strokes.
Coetze, who was third fastest in the semifinals, lines up at 9.27pm and Smith, who was quickest in the semis, goes at 9.34pm.
Meanwhile, artistic gymnast Caitlin Rooskrantz was withdrawn from the Games yesterday due to injury.
Rooskrantz, who carried the SA flag alongside sprinter Akani Simbine at the opening ceremony last week, hurt her right foot during the floor exercise in all-round qualifying on Sunday.
While the SA team had hoped she would compete in the individual apparatus later in the week, an MRI scan picked up a ligament injury and it was confirmed that she would not turn out again at the showpiece.
