SA team stands up and delivers with six medals at Paris Olympics

Heading into the Paris Olympics, the SA team’s medal chances looked to be few and far between, and while they did not achieve a record haul at the showpiece which concluded on Sunday, they did well to secure six podium places.

Some performances were predicted in advance, with the likes of Tatjana Smith, Alan Hatherly and the men’s 4x100m sprint relay team living up to the hype.

There were also surprises, however, with javelin thrower Jo-Ane van Dyk delivering the performance of her life and the Blitzboks finding some long-awaited form.

Smith makes history

Smith was the star of the show, and while she did not win gold in her favoured 200m breaststroke event, she held on for silver after producing a superb performance to win gold in the 100m breaststroke.

Having made history as South Africa’s most decorated Olympian with four career medals (two gold and two silver), Smith announced her retirement at her peak.

On the track, after missing out by 0.01 in the men’s 100m final, there was relief for consistent sprinter Akani Simbine as he earned an elusive Olympic medal, anchoring a young 4x100m relay squad to silver and a new national record (37.57 seconds).

Hatherly was equally impressive in the men’s mountain bike cross country race, digging deep to claim bronze after a hard-fought contest.

And the Blitzboks produced a stunning result. After struggling to qualify for the showpiece, they beat Australia in the bronze medal playoff of the men’s rugby sevens tournament.

Van Dyk’s result was also a surprise. After setting a personal best of 64.22m in the qualifying round, she launched a 63.93m throw in the women’s javelin final to grab silver.

National records

There was some disappointment too, with a few medal contenders missing out, including Pieter Coetze in the swimming pool and the national men’s 4x400m relay team on the track. Even in those events, however, national records were broken along the way.

Coetze finished fifth and seventh in the 100m (52.58) and 200m (1:55.60) backstroke finals respectively, but he broke the African records in both events, while the 4x400m relay team (Gardeo Isaacs, Zakithi Nene, Lythe Pillay and Antonie Matthys Nortje) also set a new SA mark of 2:58.12 to finish fifth in their final.

All-in-all, the national team’s performance in the French capital was as good as could have been expected, and it was a significant improvement on the all-round effort at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 where the SA squad earned only three medals.

And with multiple rising stars sticking up their hands with impressive results in various sports, the future looks bright.

They delivered more than expected at the Paris Games, and if the nation’s elite athletes continue on their upward trajectory, the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles should be even better.