The 2020 Tokyo Olympics have been a tough outing for Team South Africa (TeamSA) thus far and the group’s hardships are represented by the medals our nation has collected thus far.
2020 Tokyo Olympics: Wins and losses plague TeamSA
it’s been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride for fans rooting for athletes representing South Africa at the Tokyo Games. Last week, we looked to swimming champion Chad Le Clos to feed off the momentum of his epic semi-final bounce-back and claim a spot on the podium in Men’s 200m Butterfly Final.
However, it seems the pools were a bit too daunting for the 29-year-old as he came in fifth at 01:54:93. This epic disappointment was further exasperated by his performance in the Men’s 100m Butterfly Heat where he came in sixth place.
South Africa also had high hopes for sprinter Akani Simbine who, in the run up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, broke a 15-year record at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial meet in Hungary.
Simbine finished fourth place in the Men’s 100 Final, a disappointing turnout in his own words.
“The dream of standing on that podium will be a reality one day,” he wrote in a tweet.
.@Tokyo2020 Olympics
— Akani Simbine (@AkaniSimbine) August 1, 2021
4th place. Probably one of the worst places to finish in a race.
Thank you for all the support and belief through this journey.
It’s always an honour representing my country on this stage
The dream of standing on that podium will be a reality one day pic.twitter.com/MgWsbnnpEm
South Africa did see a number of glorious wins, despite the doom and gloom. Breaststroke specialist Tatjana Schoenmaker wielded gold in her world record-breaking 200m final.
Not only did she come in first-place, but Schoenmaker broke an eight-year world record when she touched the wall at 02:18.95.
Surfer Bianca Buitendag also made history in the Olympics first-ever surfing contest when she came in second in the final, notching a silver medal for TeamSA.
South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag has won an Olympic Silver medal in Surfing.
— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) July 27, 2021
South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker has also won an Olympic Silver medal in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke (Swimming). pic.twitter.com/nS08zdeLr1
Here’s how many medals TeamSA has so far
With the Games still ongoing, there is an opportunity that still exists for TeamSA to get a few more medals. However, thus far, the country has only claimed three honours, one gold and two silver medals.
The only other countries with less than three medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are:
- Uzbekistan (2)
- Uganda (2)
- Tunisia (2)
- Thailand (1)
- San Marino (2)
- Qatar (2)
- Puerto Rico (1)
- Portugal (2)
- Phillippines (1)
- North Macedonia (1)
- Malaysia (1)
- Latvia (1)
- Kuwait (1)
- Kosovo (2)
- Jordan (1)
- Iran (1)
- india (2)
- Greece (2)
- Finland (1)
- Fiji (2)
- Ethiopia (1)
- Estonia (2)
- Egypt (2)
- Dominican Republic (2)
- Ivory Coast (1)
- Bulgaria (1)
- Bermuda (1)
- Belarus (2)
- Azerbaijan (2)
- Argentina (1)
