Ashfak Mohamed
Team South Africa have won three, 10 and six medals at their last three Olympic Games in Tokyo (2021), Rio (2016) and London (2012).
Considering injuries and the absences of some key figures, will Mzansi even celebrate a single podium place at the 2024 Paris Olympics? With the Blitzboks rugby sevens team kicking off South Africa’s journey in France, here are five potential medallists ...
Swimming: Tatjana Smith
Smith – then Schoenmaker – was the heroine from the Tokyo Games for Team SA, winning their lone gold medal in the 200m breaststroke, as well as a silver in the 100m breaststroke.
She clinched the 200m title with a superb new world record of 2:18.95, but battled to get her competitive juices flowing again.
Despite that, Smith still clinched the 200m title at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and another silver medal in the 100m, and repeated the feat at last year’s world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Her coach, Rocco Meiring, recently told Independent Newspapers that Smith is struggling with a recurring leg injury that has hampered her preparations for Paris since February, but hoped that her fighting spirit will shine through. She faces tough competition from the likes of American Kate Douglass and Dutch swimmer Tes Schouten.
Athletics: Akani Simbine
After so many fourth- and fifth-placed finishes at the Olympics and world championships, is this the year for Simbine to step onto the podium?
The South African 100m champion has quietly gone about his business this year, winning a couple of international events and clocking a couple of sub-10-second times.
But he showed that he is ready to fight for a medal when he produced an outstanding time of 9.86 at the London Diamond League race on Saturday.
Simbine finished second to world champion Noah Lyles of the US, who ran 9.81, and he will hope that his vast experience of big events will stand him in good stead against other younger competitors such as Kishane Thompson (whose 9.77 is fastest time in the world this year), Ferdinand Omanyala, Fred Kerley and Letsile Tebogo.
Athletics: Men’s 4x100m relay (Akani Simbine, Benjamin Richardson, Shaun Maswanganyi, Wayde van Niekerk)
For Team SA to clinch a relay medal, they will need everything to go absolutely perfect, from the heats to the final, where the US and Jamaica are the favourites.
Simbine is a proven competitor on the world stage, but he has a new youngster in Benjamin Richardson in tow this year. Richardson ran a stunning 9.86 a few weeks ago, but it is all about making smooth baton exchanges to be a success.
Shaun Maswanganyi has Tokyo 2021 experience to call on, and then the fourth member of the quartet is a toss-up between 400m world record holder and 2016 Olympic champion Wayde van Niekerk, Bradley Nkoana and Bayanda Walaza.
Triathlon: Henri Schoeman
Schoeman made the whole of Mzansi sit up and become triathlon fans when he grabbed a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
He made a daring move on the third lap of the 10km run by hauling in Frenchman Vincent Luis, and finished third in 1hr:45min:43sec (1:45:43), ahead of fellow SA competitor Richard Murray (1:45:50).
But he was hampered by knee and ankle injuries in the build-up to the Tokyo Games in 2021, and despite completing the 1.5km swim and 40km bike ride, he dropped out on the third lap of the 10km run.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games champion, now 32, will hope to shake off his ongoing ankle concerns and secure another Olympic medal.
Rowing: John Smith and Chris Baxter
John Smith was part of the remarkable “Oarsome Foursome” Team SA rowers who won gold at the 2012 London Games.
The 34-year-old will hope to step onto the podium with Chris Baxter this time, after missing out at Rio 2016, where he finished fourth in the lightweight double sculls final.
At Tokyo in 2021, he fell out in the repechage rounds, and actually retired from the sport. But he decided a few years ago to get back into shape and has qualified for his fourth Olympics, in a formidable partnership with Baxter, who is 10 years younger. Hopefully it will be a memorable ending to his career this time ...