Team South Africa made us proud by bagging 6 medals at the Games; 6 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze.This was our 6th consecutive appearance at the Olympics in the post-apartheid era.
The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) sent a total of 125 athletes to the Games, 67 men and 58 women, to compete in 17 sports. Field hockey and women’s football were the only team-based sports in which South Africa had its representation in these Olympic games. There was only a single competitor in archery, BMX cycling, judo, shooting, and weightlifting.
Notable South African athletes featured track stars Oscar Pistorius and Caster Semenya, who both became the nation’s greatest highlight to the Games. Pistorius, a four-time Paralympic champion, set South Africa’s historical record as the first double-leg amputee to compete at the Olympics. Semenya, a middle-distance runner and a world champion who had been subjected to gender testing in 2009, became the nation’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony. The South African team also featured past Olympic medalists, including swimmer Roland Mark Schoeman, who won a full set of medals in Athens, and long jumper Godfrey Khotso Mokoena, who took silver in Beijing.
Among the nation’s medalists were swimmers Cameron van der Burgh and Chad le Clos, who both won gold and silver medals in their events. Van der Burgh broke both an Olympic record and a world record in men’s breaststroke swimming. Meanwhile, le Clos surpassed the defending champion Michael Phelps to claim the title in one of the men’s butterfly events. For the first time in its history, South Africa had won Olympic medals in rowing and in sprint canoeing.
Click here for all the latest Olympic news. For all the highlights and multimedia clips from Team SA and other competitors, click here.
Check out some selected clips below…. Ugandan Kiprotich wins men’s London marathon
Caster Semenya wins silver
Sascoc happy with Team SA
August 13
Janet Whitton, the deputy SABCSports editor,talks about the closing ceremony and the great efforts of Team SA
August 11South Africans are rallying behind Caster Semenya, hoping she will win the women’s 800m final at the London Olympics on Saturday
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