OLYMPICS was in the leading group right from the start , and paced himself well to the bronze medal , behind gold medallist ( and defending champion ) Tom Pidcock ( Great Britain ) and silver medallist Victor Koretzky ( France ).
Proudly South African
Team South Africa claimed six medals in total at the Paris 2024 Olympics , finishing 44th on the medal table , but it wasn ’ t just about the medals , it was also about the performances . These are just some of the highlights of both . – BY SEAN FALCONER
Tatjana Now SA ’ s Greatest
Swimming : Women ’ s 100m & 200m Breaststroke
Swimmer Tatjana Smith ( née Schoenmaker ) became South Africa ’ s most decorated Olympian by claiming a gold medal in the women ’ s 100m breaststroke and a silver in the 200m breaststroke in Paris , to go with her 200m gold and 100m silver from the Tokyo 2021 Olympics . Before these Games , SA ’ s most decorated Olympian was swimmer Chad Le Close , whose four medals included one gold and three silvers – Smith has one gold more than him now , hence taking over the most decorated title . In terms of swimming , special mention must also be made of Pieter Coetzee , who reached both the men ’ s 100m and 200m backstroke finals , and then set African and SA records in both as he finished fifth and seventh respectively in those races .
and injected real pace into proceedings . He went on to win the race in an Olympic Record of 26:43.14 , while Wildschutt finished 10th in 26:50.64 , shattering his own SA Record of 26:55.54 , set earlier this year . Since last year , Wildschutt has set new national marks for 3000m , 5000m and 10,000m , as well as 5000m indoors , and broken 28 minutes for 10km on the road , and just seems to be getting faster year on year .
Adrian Wildschutt
Experience Will Take Prudence Far
Athletics : Women ’ s 800m
Coming into the Paris Olympics , some South African pundits and fans were convinced that Prudence Sekgodiso was a contender for a medal in the women ’ s 800m , perhaps even the gold medal , based on the fact that she had run some of the fastest times of the year in the months preceding the Games and won several high-profile races on the global circuit . However , others believed that she would do well just to make her first ever global level final , given the challenge of racing three times in three days at the highest level . Well , she did just that , and was even lying fourth , still in with a fighting chance of a medal , as the pack entered the home straight , but then the intense programme finally caught up with her and she dropped back to finish eighth in 1:58.79 . It wasn ’ t so long ago that she was still trying to break the twominute barrier – now she does so nearly every time she races , and she has the experience of a first global final under her belt . As they say , watch this space …
Prudence Sekgodiso
Blitzboks Defy Rankings to take Bronze
Rugby : Men ’ s Sevens
Tatjana Smith |
Alan Hangs Tough for Cycling Bronze
Mountain Biking : Men ’ s Cross Country
Eight-time South African mountain bike champion Alan Hatherly earned a first mountain bike Olympic medal for South Africa as he came home third in the men ’ s cross country race . This was his third Olympics , and he took great form into his race , having won his first World Cup race in France three weeks earlier . Hatherly
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After a far less successful year than the team is used to , the Springboks Men ’ s Sevens only just made the Olympic tournament through late qualification , and came to Paris as the lowest ranked team . Then , after losing their first two pool matches , things began to click at last , and they made it to the semi-final , where they faced hosts France . A few costly mistakes saw France go through to the final , and the Blitzboks book a place in the bronze medal match against Australia . In another extremely tight match , the South Africans scored the winning try after the final buzzer to claim a rankings-defying bronze medal . |
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Adrian Breaks SA Record Again
Athletics : Men ’ s 10,000m
After 23 laps of the 25 that made up the men ’ s 10,000m race , there was still a huge pack of 12 athletes together in the leading bunch , including South Africa ’ s Adrian Wildschutt . It had already been one of the fastest Olympic 10,000m races in history , but then three-time World Champion and current 5000m and 10,000m World Record-holder , Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda moved to the front of the pack
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Alan Hatherly |
Springboks Men ’ s Sevens |
Images : Courtesy TeamSA , Wikimedia |
16 ISSUE 171 | www . modernathlete . co . za