South African swimming star Tatjana Smith will be back in the pool on day five of the Olympic Games in Paris. Picture: Tom Weller/VOIGT/Getty Images
With three medals in the bag after four days of competition at the Paris Olympics, the SA team will look to gain further momentum over the next couple of days, spearheaded by swimming sensation Tatjana Smith who will be aiming to make history in the pool.
After securing gold in the women’s 100m breaststroke final on Monday night, Smith will turn out in the heats of her favoured 200m breaststroke event at 11am on Wednesday morning, as she sets her sights on Thursday’s final.
Should she step on the podium again, the 27-year-old former world record holder will become the first South African woman to earn four career medals at the Olympics, after securing two podium places at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Also hoping to make an impact on Wednesday, 20-year-old Pieter Coetze will return to the pool for the men’s 200m backstroke heats (11.21am). He too will be eager to progress through the rounds, as he looks to challenge for the podium in the four-length final on Thursday night, having settled for fifth place in the 100m backstroke final on Monday.
Among other events to be contested on Wednesday, former Olympic medallist Henri Schoeman will join Jamie Riddle in the men’s triathlon (10.45am) after the race was postponed on Tuesday due to poor water quality in the Seine river. Vicky van der Merwe also goes in the women’s triathlon at 8am on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, on a relatively quiet day of competition for Team SA on Tuesday, freestyle BMX cyclist Vincent Leygonie was knocked out in the men’s park qualifying round after finishing 12th overall.
In the swimming pool, Matthew Sates was 20th overall in the men’s 200m butterfly heats in 1:57.04, and he did not progress to the semifinals.
Single sculls rower Paige Badenhorst finished fourth in her quarterfinal in 7:44:03, and though she was also eliminated from medal contention, she was set to turn out again in the C/D semifinals on Wednesday (10.14am).
The national men’s hockey team continued to struggle in an attempt to punch above their weight. They fell in a 5-1 defeat to Germany and remained without a win after three matches in the tournament.
The third round of the women’s surfing competition was postponed on Monday and again on Tuesday, due to unfavourable weather conditions in Tahiti.
Sarah Baum, the last remaining SA surfer at the Games, will be hoping to compete on Wednesday for a spot in the quarterfinals.
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