Team South Africa won its first medals at the Olympic Games yesterday, with swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker winning silver first before surfer Bianca Buitendag finished second in this historic event.
Competing in the sport which is making its debut at the Games, the 27-year-old Buitendag from Victoria Bay near George had a busy day in the waves.
The goofy-stance ace beat Portugal’s Yolanda Hopkins 9.50-5.46 in the quarter-final and then Caroline Marks of USA 11.00-3.67 in the semifinal.
But the world No.17’s wave came crashing down in the sport’s first-ever Olympic final against the US’s four-time world champion Carissa Moore at Tsurigasaki Beach.
With the wave conditions worsening at the approach of Tropical Storm Nepartak, she just couldn’t pick the right breaks in the 35-minute final and lost 8.46 to 14.93.
Olympic 100m breaststroke record holder Schoenmaker, meanwhile, also missed out on the top step of the podium after her record-breaking start in the heats.
If she had matched that time of 1:04.82, the 24-year-old would have beaten the tough competition of Lydia Jacoby and Lilly King, splitting the two Americans when she touched the wall in 1:05.22.
Schoenmaker isn’t done at the Games just yet, though.
After a surprise medal in the two-lap race, she is favourite to go one better when the 200m event starts today at 12.49pm.
When South Africans wake up today four-time medallist Chad le Clos could already have added another medal to the country’s tally, competing in the Men’s 200m Butterfly event at 3.49am.