OLYMPIC MEDAL HOPEFULS: SA athletes to look out for in Paris

Several South African athletes will already be in action before what promises to be a spectacular opening ceremony kicks off the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this Friday.

The men’s Sevens team will begin their medal quest on Wednesday while archer Wian Roux will compete in the individual ranking round on Thursday.

The action begins in earnest on Saturday though. We take a look at some of the South Africans to look out for as the world’s attention turns to the French capital for two weeks of exceptional sporting entertainment…

SWIMMING

Swimming is the sport that has been one of the most consistent providers of medals since South Africa’s readmission to the Olympic Games, with 1992 and 2008 the only years in which the nation’s swimmers did not reach the podium.

In 2021, Tatjana Smith [formerly Schoenmaker] brought home two of the country’s three medals won in Tokyo after taking gold in the 200m breaststroke in world record time and silver in the 100m breaststroke.

But this time, Smith’s build-up to the Games has been far from ideal as the 26-year-old has struggled to shake off an injury sustained prior to the National Championships in Gqeberha in April. Her Pretoria teammates have also struggled with niggles and illness.

“We've had a few niggles here and there, and three of the five [Olympic swimmers] got some really bad flu even though we tried everything for them not to get infected,” explained coach Rocco Meiring.

Despite the injury, Smith managed to produce a sensationally quick time of 2:19.01 (the fastest time in the world this year) on her way to the national title in the 200m breaststroke in April, but it remains to be seen whether she can replicate that form in Paris.

“Everybody's prepared, everybody is a top competitor, and it's going to come down to race day. It's going to come down to who can keep their minds and their mindset strong enough to be competitive,” said Meiring.

Important to note is that the Russian swimmer who broke Smith’s 200m breaststroke world record, Evgeniia Chikunova, will not be competing in Paris. But the Chinese swimmer who has the fastest time in the 100m event, Tang Qianting, will be there. Smith’s 100m time of 1:05.41 from April this year places her third fastest in the world this year heading into the Games behind Tang and Chikunova.

Meanwhile, young backstroker Pieter Coetzé will be another South African to keep an eye on in the pool. The then-18-year-old claimed gold, silver and bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and was the only South African swimmer to claim a medal at the World Championships in Doha earlier this year. He’ll be competing in both the 100 and 200m backstroke.

“I want to be the Olympic champion. I’m not going to lie about that or play it down. That’s probably my goal,” he reckoned.

Never to be counted out, of course, is SA’s most decorated Olympian, Chad le Clos, who has been open about his struggles to battle back to top form. He’ll be competing in the 100m butterfly at his fourth Olympic Games.

ATHLETICS

Much attention has been focused on world record holder Wayde van Niekerk’s withdrawal from the individual 400m to rather compete in the 200m and focus on the relays. It remains to be seen exactly who will be chosen to contest both the men’s 4x100m and 4x400m relays, but whoever it is, these will be races to keep an eye on.

Both Akani Simbine and Benji Richardson have run sub-9.90-second times in the 100m in the last few weeks, making them contenders in the individual event as well as half of a powerful relay line-up. Simbine finished in an agonising fourth place in Tokyo last time out and in fifth place in Rio four years before that so one has to hope that 2024 will finally be his year to reach a podium. Whether that’s in the individual race or relay remains to be seen.

Elsewhere on the track, Prudence Sekgodiso has certainly made her presence felt in the 800m this season, winning two Diamond League meets and setting a new personal best of 1:57.26. That places her joint seventh in the world this year, but with exponential improvement each time she steps on the track, a podium in Paris is not out of reach.

“Prudence is talented enough to definitely medal, there's no two ways about it,” reckoned SA athletics team manager in Paris, Jean Verster. “But we've got to get through that first-round recovery.

“I hope we can just get her recovered well through the rounds and keep her focused and definitely, if she's in the final… she has a very good chance of medalling. She's really tough… Hezekiel [Sepeng] showed that to us in 1996, he came from nowhere and got the silver medal and I think she can do that as well.”

Added to the medal mix is long jumper Jovan van Vuuren, who returned from a horrific career-threatening hamstring injury to leap to a new personal best of 8.30m earlier this year. He’s had to deal with another injury since then but if he can replicate that sort of form, the 28-year-old would certainly be in with a medal shout. A distance of 8.30m would have secured a bronze in Tokyo three years ago.

MOUNTAIN BIKING

Pedalling their way into medal contention in recent weeks are both Alan Hatherly and Candice Lill. Hatherly has reached three podiums in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series already this season, including taking top spot in France earlier this month and stands on top of the overall standings. Lill has reached two podiums and is fifth overall.

“I've just never been in a place before where I actually have such confidence in my training and in my racing, in what I'm doing and I've never been in the place to say that I can get a medal at the Olympics, or believe that I could get a medal at the Olympics,” admitted Lill. “Even at the beginning of this year, I was saying it's my goal to get a top 10. I mean really a lot of things have shifted in the last little while and it’s very, very exciting.”

ROWING

London gold medallist John Smith will be competing at his fourth Olympic Games and has redemption on his mind. From the highs of London and topping the podium with the lightweight four, Smith finished fourth in Rio and then endured a disastrous campaign in Tokyo, finishing nowhere near the podium. This time he’s teamed up with Chris Baxter in the heavyweight pair and is eager to finish off his career in style.

“When I finished Tokyo, I had this moment that I couldn’t be done after that result, a 10th place. I thought we were much better than that,” said Smith. “So it sat with me and I woke up constantly, every day with this need for redemption and having one last crack at it to see myself off… Because I’ve been away from the sport it’s given me the hunger so much and this redemption is so important to me. I know I only have one last crack at this thing and I’ve put all my eggs into one basket so it's super-exciting and I’m ready to take on the challenge.”

Paige Badenhorst will be the only other South African rower in action in Paris, competing in the single sculls.

RUGBY SEVENS

They may have just scraped through qualification, clinching the last available spot in Paris, but the men’s Sevens team are confident of a first return to the podium since their bronze in Rio eight years ago. The team’s form has been far from convincing this season, with the side finishing seventh in the HSBC SVNS series, but the only remaining member of that Rio team, Rosko Specman, is hopeful of having a positive impact on the team.

“Our fans will always be behind us because they like the energy this team brings and I know they’ll be awake when ‘Spec Magic’ is doing his thing. When ‘Spec Magic’ is there on the field, they know it’s always a magic moment,” he reckoned.

The men’s team will face a tough challenge in the pool stages, having been grouped with Ireland, New Zealand and Japan while the SA women’s team will find it equally tough, up against Australia, Ireland and Great Britain in their pool.

TRIATHLON

Another Rio medallist will be back in action in Paris in the form of Henri Schoeman. Schoeman claimed Olympic bronze in the triathlon and followed that up with Commonwealth Games gold two years later but then suffered a fractured ankle in Tokyo which brought his medal quest to a heartbreaking end. He has endured months of rehab since then to battle his way back from that and several other injuries, but is hoping to find redemption in Paris.

“To bring a medal home again will just mean everything,” said Schoenman. “To have the memories of what I did in Rio and how it changed the atmosphere, especially around Durban among triathlon, it really just lifted up the spirit and I think it really inspired a new generation. So if I can do that again and also just show what I’ve been through… then anyone has the capability of getting there and getting it done. Don’t let anything or any obstacles get you down. If you just keep going, you can achieve anything.”

SURFING

If there’s anything we learnt from surfing’s debut as an Olympic sport in Tokyo, it’s that anything is possible, with SA’s Bianca Buitendag coming from nowhere to secure the silver medal. This year’s surfing competition will be held over 15 000km from Paris in Tahiti, where the SA contingent of Jordy Smith (who has been ranked No 1 in the world in his lengthy surfing career), Matt McGillivray and Sarah Baum will be out to emulate Buitendag’s stunning achievement.

“Seeing Bianca bring home the medal at the last Olympic Games was amazing,” said Baum. “It has definitely given me a bit of extra motivation to do well but I also just want to stick to my own game and do my best.”