Good start for Team SA as Badenhorst and Gallagher reach second round

Rower Paige Badenhorst and swimmer Erin Gallagher kept their medal hopes alive on the first official day of competition at the Olympic Games, safely progressing through the opening rounds of their events in the morning session on Saturday.

Badenhorst started the day in style for Team SA, taking third place in her single sculls heat in 7:39.19 and booking her place in the quarterfinals to be contested on Tuesday.

In the pool, Gallagher was 13th fastest in the women’s 100m butterfly heats, securing a spot in the semifinals to be held on Saturday night (8.30pm).

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.

However, the South African judoka was defeated by Natsumi Tsunoda of Japan in the round of 16, missing out on the quarterfinals.

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.

Still to come

South African athletes in various sports will compete later on Saturday, led by the Blitzboks who are preparing to face hosts France in the men’s rugby sevens semifinals at 3.30pm. They need to win only one of their remaining two matches to secure the nation’s first medal of the Games.

The bronze medal fixture, featuring the losing semifinalists, will be played at 7pm and the gold medal battle is at 7.45pm.

The SA men’s hockey team are gearing up for their first pool game of the tournament, to be played against the Netherlands at 12.45pm.

Johanita Scholtz is in the draw for the women’s badminton singles, turning out in a group match against Korean player Kim Ga Eun, which is provisionally scheduled for 2.50pm.

In the equestrian competition, Alexander Peternall will compete in the individual dressage of men’s eventing at 3.36pm.

Elsewhere, in Tahiti, Jordy Smith and Matthew McGillivray are in the first round of men’s surfing at 7pm, and Sara Baum is in the women’s opening round at 11.48pm.