South Africa has already accumulated one more medal than the total haul from the 2012 London Games.
The 2016 team however, has been collecting silver medals of late with Cameron van der Burgh, Chad le Clos and Luvo Manyonga coming closest to a gold.
All that changed on Monday morning as Wayde van Niekerk ran the race of his life to claim SA’s first gold medal at the Games in a time of 43:03 in the men’s 400m race, and thus setting a new world record.
In the men’s 100m, Pretoria sprinter Akani Simbine finished 5th behind Usain Bolt, who won his third straight Olympics 100m final race.
The tally of seven medals at the Olympics is the highest for South Africa since readmission.
Dear @TelkomZA cava le SPEED… 😁🇿🇦 #WaydevanNieker #TeamSA pic.twitter.com/kXRjgeoHn1
— Terry Pheto (@TerryPheto) August 15, 2016
But, with the likes of Caster Semenya, Anaso Jobodwana and Khotso Mokoena still to come, this tally could yet improve.
Though South Africa collected on six medals at the London Games where they placed 24th in the overall medal standings, three were golds compared to only one so far.
Such a nice touch. From one champ to the other. Greatness all round #TeamSA pic.twitter.com/uTksoNOic1
— Lucas Radebe (@LucasRadebe) August 15, 2016
Also read:
Van Niekerk breaks 400m world record
Manyonga beats his demons to earn Olympic silver
Anaso Jobodwana, SA’s Rio medal dark horse
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