Excitement for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics is building as the Games approach, and the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic and Paralympic Committee added a kick of enthusiasm when it announced the flag bearers at an event in Johannesburg, on Tuesday, 9 July, 2024.
Caitlin Rooskrantz, one of the flag bearers for Team South Africa, was among the first athletes to secure her place at the Games, which runs from July 26 to August 11, 2024.
The talented athlete played a key role in helping Team SA achieve a historic 19th-place finish at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, last October. On Instagram, Rooskrantz expressed her gratitude, calling the honour ‘absolutely unreal’. Rooskrantz wrote:
“So grateful to be afforded this incredible opportunity, God is so Good! Can’t wait to represent you all with such pride, SA!”
South African Artistic Gymnast, Caitlin Rooskrantz
Rooskrantz, a 2022 Ministerial Awards recipient at the Momentum gsport Awards, will represent Mzansi for the second time at the Olympics, having finished 61st at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Swimmer Kat Swanepoel will be one of South Africa’s flag bearers for the Paralympics, which will be held in Paris from August 28 to September 8, 2024. On Instagram, Swanepoel shared her shock and gratitude upon learning of her selection.
Swanepoel wrote, “Words can’t even begin to express the immense honour of this moment. Not even 2 months ago, I was reeling from the shock of reclassification and expecting the end of my sporting career.
“Never in a million years did I expect to make the team, never mind imagine that I would be selected as one of the flag bearers for SA at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.”
Swanepoel said, “I feel completely unworthy to be carrying the hopes and dreams of our beautiful country onto the world stage.”
“The flag will feel heavy because it represents the pain, the struggles, the hope, the aspirations, and the joy that is South Africa. It is not an honour that I take lightly but can promise that in all I do, I do it for our amazing nation.
South African Para Swimming Champ, Kat Swanepoel
“Sport can be a cruel and fickle world where your value is based purely on your results… since my reclassification, Team SA, my coach Theo Verster, and so many others have shown in word and action that this is not the case and have stood firmly in my corner.
“That has been enough of a blessing, and now to receive this honour is beyond belief,” said Swanepoel. “I am humbled, honoured, and hugely proud.”
Main Photo Caption: Excitement for the 2024 Paris Olympics is building as the Games approach, with the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic and Paralympic Committee announcing the flag bearers for the event, which runs from July 26 to August 11, 2024. All Photos: Kat Swanepoel on Facebook
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