SA golfer Ashleigh Buhai described her second round of the Olympic golf tournament at Le Golf National on Thursday as “an adventure” after her round of 78 saw the 2022 British Open champion in a share of sixth by the end of the day, at the Le Golf National in Paris on Thursday, 8 August, 2024.
Things didn’t start too well on Thursday, with a double bogey on the first hole, but certainly improved from there. “It’s been an adventure. You’ve got to roll with the punches,” she said afterwards.
“I felt I played really good again today. The first hole I made a double, but I didn’t make a bad swing coming out the semi-rough, I just came out a little heavy.”
SA Golfer Ashleigh Simon after her Second Round
“Then the second double [on the 12th] was disappointing because I had to play out the bunker and then it was between wedges. I tried to hit the hard one, spun it up and… It was just bad course management.
“But I didn’t let it ruin me. I just kept staying committed to what I needed to do, and I hit good shots coming in.”
The other South African golfer in Paris, Paula Reto, also shot a second-round 73, but an opening-round 78 means she’s still in a tie for 47th. With no cut in Olympic golf, Reto will still be able to continue in the third round tomorrow, however.
Meanwhile, diver Julia Vincent was elated to book a spot in her first Olympic final on her third attempt at the Games. Vincent has reached three World Championships finals (in 2017, 2023 and 2024) but has never managed it at the Olympics.
This time she secured her passage through by finishing sixth overall with a total of 297.30 points, with the top 12 all progressing.
“My first dive I would call a little bit of a mess, so I was trying not to watch the scores too much until I had kind of got my rhythm again. But then towards the end, I knew I just needed something steady on my head. Nothing special, just do my dive, and I’d be good to go through.”
SA Diver, Julia Vincent
“I was a little more nervous than I was expecting, just knowing what’s on the line, wanting to make sure that I made the final,” she admitted afterwards. “But I also felt pretty steady. The same as yesterday, I just wanted to stay steady, survive, and advance. That’s all these rounds are for so I’m pretty happy with that.”
As for how she will approach tomorrow afternoon’s final, Vincent added: “I think I’m going to try to do the same thing, stay steady. Usually when I try to do too much, that’s when things go wrong, so I’m just going to almost pretend like I’m just surviving and advancing again and see how that works for me.”
Over at the Stade de France athletics track, sprint hurdler Marioné Fourie was far happier with her day’s efforts. The 22-year-old won her 100m hurdles repechage race in 12.79 seconds and said afterwards: “Yesterday was a bad race, but I can’t do anything about it. I forgot about the race yesterday in like 10, 20 minutes. You just have to set your mind to another race and keep going forward.
“It’s just starting to warm up, so I’m happy about the race and I know I can go faster!”
SA Sprint Hurdler Marioné Fourie
In the field events, Miné de Klerk found it tough going in shot put qualification, finishing 31st overall with a best effort of 15.63m and not making it through to the final. Climber Lauren Mukheibir found it equally tough in the women’s lead semifinal, finishing in 20th place.
Team South Africa’s Women’s Contingent and Paris 2024 Broadcast Updates
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Saturday, 27 July, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Sunday, 28 July, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Monday, 29 July, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Tuesday, 30 July, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Wednesday, 31 July, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Thursday, 1 August, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Friday, 2 August, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Saturday, 3 August, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Sunday, 4 August, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Monday, 5 August, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Tuesday, 6 August, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Wednesday, 7 August, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Thursday, 8 August, 2024
Golf Round 2 Women’s Individual –
Ashleigh Buhai has carded 68 and 73 to lie in a group of six golfers five shots behind round 2 overnight leader, Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux
Paula Reto has a mountain to climb after rounds of 78 73 has her on a tournament total of 151
Diving Semi-Final – Julia Vincent produced a fine effort of 297.30 points from her five dives, the same she had recorded at the world championships last year when placing 10th. She qualified for the Olympic final here in 6th position
Sport Climbing Semi-Final – Lauren Mukheiber was scored at 0.0 points to finish 20th overall, and was eliminated
Athletics Women’s Shot Put – Miné de Klerk finished 16th in her group with a heave of 15.63m and didn;t progress to the final
Women’s 100m Hurdles Repechage – Marioné Fourie won her heat in 12.79 and progressed to the semi-finals
Schedule of Events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Friday, 9 August, 2024
Golf
9:00: Women’s Individual Stroke play round three – Ashleigh Buhai, Paula Reto
Athletics
12:05PM: 100m Hurdles semi-finals – Marioné Fourie
Diving
15:00: 3m Springboard finals – Julia Vincent
Main Photo Caption: SA diver Julia Vincent qualifies for her first-ever Olympic Final on her third attempt on Day 16 of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in France. Photo: Anton Geyser / Team SA
Photo 2 Caption: Ashleigh Buhai endured a challenging second round at the Le Golf National in Paris on Day 16 of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in France. Photo: Roger Sedres / Team SA
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