It was a day of mixed fortunes and national records for Team SA at the Olympics on Friday with one former champion bowing out of contention while a rising star embarked on what could be a memorable campaign in Paris.
In the pool, four-time Olympic medallist Chad le Clos didn’t make it past his 100m butterfly heats while over at the Stade de France track, budding middle-distance star Prudence Sekgodiso cruised through the first round of the 800m.
Meanwhile, swimmer Rebecca Meder and 10 000m runner Adriaan Wildschutt ensured the evening ended in record-breaking fashion.
It was always going to be a long shot for Le Clos who was ranked outside of the top 30 in the world in the 100m butterfly heading into these Games. He then picked up an injury just a couple of weeks ago when a child jumped into a pool directly in front of him as he was training in Germany.
As a result, Le Clos remained realistic about his chances.
🗣️ "It's been a tough four weeks, got a bit of a grade two tear in the upper shoulder, probably shouldn't have raced!"
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) August 2, 2024
Chad le Clos' full reaction to missing out on the Men's 100m Butterfly semi-finals after the heats this morning.#Paris2024 | #CloserToYourChampions pic.twitter.com/jviFuCMIJw
“I want to be competitive, make no mistake. I didn't come here for the t-shirts. This was not good. I was half expecting this because of outside circumstances. But, hey, if everything was sweet, I'd be in tears right now for not making it back [to the semifinals]. I'm okay right now. It is what it is,” he said after finishing 24th overall in a time of 52.24 seconds.
Unlike compatriot Tatjana Smith, who announced her retirement from the sport on Thursday, Le Clos is determined to continue swimming and hasn’t ruled out the LA Olympics in 2028, even though he’ll be 36 years old by then.
Also not making it through the 100m butterfly heats was the out-of-form Matthew Sates, who finished 35th overall in 54.53.
South Africa’s final swimmer in action at these Games was Rebecca Meder who had to wait a week before competing in her first event, the 200m individual medley.
She swam 2:11.96 to finish fourth in her morning heat to sneak into the evening semifinal in 16th place and then went quicker to finish 11th overall in a new South African record time of 2:10.67.
REBECCA MEDER LEAVES IT ALL IN THE POOL!✨ Against a fiercely competitive field, she finishes 5th in her 200m IM semi-final and 11th overall, just shy of a spot in tomorrow night's Final...💚💛 #TeamSA🇿🇦 #Olympics🏊🏊♂️🏊🏾♀️ #Paris2024🏅 #ForMyCountry✊https://t.co/8i3LnzFXg8 pic.twitter.com/qYZIAQxeOw
— Swimming South Africa (@SwimSouthAfrica) August 2, 2024
“I think there's only a certain per centage of people who can say they got a PB at the Olympic Games and, not that I was ever going to bring this up, but just under three and a half months ago I was sitting in the hospital with a ruptured appendix, and now I'm 11th in the world at the Olympic Games,” said an emotional Meder afterwards.
“I think I set myself those scary dreams and I can either look back and go, ah, I never achieved it, or wow, I did everything I possibly could have done to try and get that dream. And it just makes me so hungry. I was seeded 20th coming in and to finish 11th overall with a PB in a semifinal, it's not quite the result I was wanting, but at the same time I couldn't have asked for more.”
SEKGODISO BOOKS SPOT IN 800M SEMIS
Meanwhile, a confident Sekgodiso looked comfortable in her 800m heat on Friday, cruising to second spot in a time of 1:59.84 to book one of the three automatic qualifying spots available for Sunday’s semifinal.
Prudence Sekgodiso has secured 2nd place in Round 1, Heat 2 with an impressive time of 1:59.84!
— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) August 2, 2024
She now qualifies for the semi-finals!
Let's go, TeamSA! 🇿🇦💪#TeamSA #ForMyCountry #Olympics pic.twitter.com/nPuSlosltI
She admitted afterwards that she may not have been as comfortable as she looked, however, especially down the home straight.
“The race was OK. The first 400 I was relaxed and on the right mark,” she said.
“The last 300, that's where I started pushing hard, but I feel like I pushed so much whereby at the last hundred I was like, oh my word, now I'm tired.
Sekgodiso then saw herself in second place on the screen in the stadium and thought: “Let me just be myself and run for my country, my coach and whoever is watching and that's what I did. And I feel good, I'm just waiting for the next one.”
The next one will be the semifinal on Sunday.
NEW NATIONAL RECORD FOR WILDSCHUTT
In the only athletics final of the night, distance star Wildschutt did well to stick with the lead pack in the men’s 10 000m but couldn’t keep up on a blisteringly quick final lap, eventually finishing in 10th place in the race which was won by Uganda’s world record holder Joshua Cheptegei in a new Olympic record of 26:43.14.
Wilschutt’s time of 26:50.64 saw his taking bettering his previous national record set earlier this year.
Track week starts with a bang in the Men's 10,000m 💥
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) August 2, 2024
Adriaan Wildschutt sets a new South African record with an epic run 👏🇿🇦#Paris2024 | #CloserToYourChampions pic.twitter.com/eKrxeVV5Vf
Other South Africans on the track on Friday included Ryan Mphahlele and Tshepo Tshite in the 1 500m heats.
They finished 12th and 13th respectively which means they will have another shot at qualifying for the semifinals via the newly introduced repechage round for those who don’t book automatic qualifying spots.
There was heartbreak for Kyle Blignaut after his best effort of 20.78m in the shot put qualifying was not enough to see him through to Saturday’s final.
The 24-year-old who finished sixth in Tokyo three years ago missed out by just one spot.
In the Men’s Shot Put, Kyle Blignaut threw 20.78m, finishing 13th overall. 🇿🇦💪 #TeamSA #Olympics2024 #ForMyCountry pic.twitter.com/kViMC3HsjT
— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) August 2, 2024
HOCKEY MEN FINISH ON A HIGH
Meanwhile, the SA men’s hockey side finished their tournament on a high, pulling off a 5-2 victory over hosts France thanks to three goals in the final five minutes from the Cassiem brothers, Mustapha and Dayaan.
That sees them finishing ninth overall out of the 12 teams in the tournament.
Dayaan Cassiem with a captain's performance as South Africa beat France 🏑©#Paris2024 | #CloserToYourChampions pic.twitter.com/XxIimme0OS
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) August 2, 2024
“We set targets for ourselves, maybe lofty targets but that’s how we see ourselves, we’re an ambitious group,” said SA strike Nqobile Ntuli afterwards.
“Obviously there was big disappointment after not winning that Spain game to get the quarterfinal possibility heading into today, but I’m super proud of the guys for the effort we put in to finish on four points is a step further than before so for us it’s little steps. As long as they take, as long as they’re going forward, so we’re happy with this end here with an amazing crowd and amazing atmosphere. Credit to Paris.
South Africa just love beating France in their own backyard 😤🇿🇦#Paris2024 | #CloserToYourChampions pic.twitter.com/7z5yfvyCIJ
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) August 2, 2024
ROWERS SECURE NINTH SPOT
Earlier in the day at the Vaires-sur-Marne rowing course, the men’s pair of John Smith and Chris Baxter finished third in their B final to secure ninth spot overall.
“I’m really happy to have raced at the Olympics, to represent South Africa on the biggest stage, really an honour,” said Baxter afterwards. “It’s not the result that we wanted but we learn from it and onwards and upwards from here, looking forward to the next one.”
🇿🇦 In the Rowing Men’s Pair B Final, John Smith and Christopher Baxter finished 3rd, placing 9th overall! 🚣♂️ #TeamSA #Olympics2024 #ForMyCountry 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/vdgu6WgQ5m
— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) August 2, 2024
VAN ROOYEN T10 AT LE GOLF NATIONAL
SA’s golfers were in action in the second round of the Olympic tournament at Le Golf National.
Erik van Rooyen lies in joint 10th at the halfway mark after shooting a second-round 69 while Christiaan Bezuidenhout’s 71 saw him to joint 35th spot by the end of the day.
Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama and Tommy Fleetwood are in a three-way tie for the lead by two strokes.