Team South Africa owe Mzansi’s sports fans big time at the Olympic Games in Paris, after bagging only three medals at the Tokyo Games in 2020.
Two of those medals – one gold and one silver – belonged to swimmer Tatjana Smith (née Schoenmaker) and the other one – a silver – to surfer Bianca Buitendag.
As for the other 113 competitors the country sent to the Games, niks, nothing, dololo.
It was the country’s third-worst showing at the Games since readmission in 1992, with the best performance being the 10 medals won in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
This time around we’ve sent a 149-strong team, competing in 21 sporting codes.
The total comprises 83 men and 66 women, but how many of them are realistic medal hopes?
Let’s take a look at the obvious medal contenders and start with the ones that have already kicked off – rugby, handball, football and archery already in full swing.
On the rugby front, Team SA’s Blitzboks should have a chance of making the podium. In fact in the past, it was kind of expected of them. But results have gone against them recently and captain Selvyn Davids and his teammates have to play out of their skins to bring it home.
As for the women’s team, yours truly doesn’t have much hope for a medal finish.
We don’t have football teams in Paris, but in Wian Roux Team SA has an archer hoping to shoot los a gold medal.
Swimming, meanwhile, has generally been kind to South Africa at these global games.
In fact, of the 11 gold medals the country has won since 1992, six were bagged in the swimming pool – Penny Heyns (two in 1996), the 4x100 men’s relay team (2004), Cameron van der Burgh, Chad Le Clos (both 2012) and Schoenmaker (2020).
This year we have six representatives in the swimming pool, including Le Clos and Schoenmaker.
It is, however, on land – on the track – where there is genuine excitement around South Africa’s finest athletes.
Face it, the 100m men’s sprint event is the big one at the Games – it’s like the main event if ever there was one.
South Africa has never won a medal in this event.
But this time there is a real sense that this could be our year, with Akani Simbine, Benjamin Richardson and Shaun Maswanganyi all competing.
Simbine is SA’s best hope of a medal in the 100m – he clocked 9.85s just last week, meaning he is currently in red-hot form.
The 20-year-old Richardson is one of those dark horses that if everything clicks, he could just stun the world – especially after clocking a personal best 100m time of 9.86 at La Chaux-de-Fonds on July 14.
World record-holder in the 400m and champion in this event back in 2016, Wayde van Niekerk, will not compete in the one-lap race this year and will instead be on the hunt for gold in the 200m.
Prudence Sekgodiso, 22, is another athlete of whom big things are expected in the women’s 800m.
It will also be worth keeping a close eye on Gerda Steyn when she represents SA in the women’s marathon.
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In terms of more extreme sport, 36-year-old Jordy Smith will represent SA in surfing, while Dallas Oberholzer, Brandon Valjalo and Boipelo Awuah will fly the flag in skateboarding.
Of course there are other medal hopefuls across the various sporting codes and we wish every single one of the near-150 athletes all the best as they look to strut their stuff on the biggest stage of them all.
Good luck Team SA, we are truly going to be behind you all the way.
🎥✨ Check out the incredible Olympic Village! 🏅🏠 From stunning accommodations to top-notch facilities, this is where the magic happens! 🥳🔥#TeamSA #ForMyCountry #Olympics pic.twitter.com/RDevHOO1kB
— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) July 23, 2024