Vincent, Tatjana and Kyle make SA and Krugersdorp proud in Paris
Three SA Olympic athletes with roots in Krugersdorp gave it their best shot at the Paris Olympic Games with one of them bagging the country's only gold medal thus far.
Three members of the South African team at this year’s Olympic Games in Paris, France have roots in Krugersdorp.
Swimming sensation Tatjana Smith (who bagged two medals), adrenaline junkie Vincent Leygonie and powerhouse Kyle Blignaut had humble beginnings in Krugersdorp.
Vincent, a former Noordheuwel resident, was not only the first South African but also the first on the African continent to compete in the Men’s BMX freestyle event at the Olympics.
“I then got the honour of being the first-ever South African champion which allowed me to go to the 2023 World Championships. This got me qualified to go to the Olympics! However, I had to go to an Olympic qualifier series in China and Budapest as well,” Vincent said before jetting off to Paris.
At the Olympics, Vincent placed 12th overall having scored 73.20 on his first run and 78.50 on his second run with an average score of 75.8. Unfortunately, he did not qualify to compete in the final for a medal.
Kyle Blignaut, a Monnas old boy and shot put athlete, competed in his second Olympics.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, he placed sixth with an impressive distance of 21m during his third of six attempts.
According to the acting president of Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA), Karabo Mabilo, Kyle was also one of seven athletes who represented them in Paris.
“As a province, we understand that the Olympic Games are not just about winning medals but a celebration of excellence at the highest level of sports. We have used the send-off event as a platform to celebrate our athletes and most importantly as a platform to inspire the upcoming athletes from various communities in the province who have a dream of being Olympians one day. We encourage all our development athletes and clubs to take this as an inspiration to go on the ground and unearth talent,” she added.
On August 2, Kyle placed seventh in the qualifying round with a distance of 20.78m and placed 13th overall missing out on the opportunity to compete in the finals yet again.
Although disappointed, he proudly said on his official Instagram page that he missed out by just 3cm.
“It is not what I wanted to do, but that is how the cookie crumbles,” he said.
Then, South Africa’s pride and joy in the water was former Hoërskool Noordheuwel learner, Tatjana Smith (nee Schoenmaker), who represented the country in the Women’s 100m and 200m breaststroke events.
She placed first during the heats for the 100m and progressed to the final where she won the gold medal in a time of one minute, and 05.28 seconds on July 28.
Nories head of marketing Sonet Guy said they are extremely proud of the former learner and that with her ‘blue Norie blood’ she showed the world that she is SA’s golden girl.
On July 31 she continued in the heats for the 200m where she placed first and progressed to the semi-finals and then the final on August 1 bagging the silver medal with a time of two minutes and 19.60 seconds – only 0.36 seconds behind the gold medal winner Kate Douglas from the USA.
Tatjana has since announced her retirement from competitive swimming.
“I gave it my everything as it was my last race. I gave 22 years of my life to the sport and am very grateful to walk away with a silver medal,” she told the world.
She also continues to hold the Olympic record in the Women’s 200m Breaststroke which she claimed during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games with a time of two minutes and 18.95 seconds.
