Blitzboks on fire, but most members of SA team struggle on day one

While the SA team had reason to celebrate, with the Blitzboks picking up their first medal of the Games, the rest of the national squad had to dig deep on what was a tough first official day of competition at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.

The Blitzboks opened the nation’s medal count with a bronze medal in the men’s rugby sevens tournament, beating Australia 26-19 in a thrilling playoff.

In other events, however, it was not all smooth sailing, as Team South Africa struggled to put up a fight.

Competing in the evening session in the swimming pool, national record holder Erin Gallagher settled for 14th position in 57.90 seconds in the women’s 100m butterfly semifinals, missing out on a place in the final.

Earlier in the day, rower Paige Badenhorst kept her medal hopes alive, taking third place in her single sculls heat in 7:39.19 and booking her place in the quarterfinals to be contested on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, on the judo mat, Geronay Whitebooi also got off to a good start, beating Jacqueline Solis of Guatemala in her round of 32 match in the women’s -48kg category. But the South African judoka was defeated by Natsumi Tsunoda of Japan in the round of 16, and she was eliminated ahead of the quarterfinals.

Other events

Elsewhere, the SA men’s hockey team lost 5-3 to the world’s top-ranked side, the Netherlands, in their first pool match.

In the equestrian competition, Alexander Peternall was 56th in the individual dressage, while Johanita Scholtz lost her opening group match in the women’s badminton tournament, going down 2-0 against Korean player Kim Ga Eun.

Later on Saturday night, in Tahiti, Jordy Smith and Matthew McGillivray were set to compete in the first round of men’s surfing at 7pm, and Sara Baum was gearing up for the women’s opening round at 11.48pm.

The men’s street skateboarding competition was postponed due to poor weather conditions, and it will be contested on Monday, with Brandon Valjalo representing Team SA.