Medal Count Rises for Team SA

Official information about South Africa’s progress during the first three days at the All Africa Games in Algeria is limited, but Team SA’s management team has provided insights of positive news from the continent’s most prestigious sporting event.

Team SA put on a scintillating performance on the first official day of competition at the All Africa Games in Algeria, with the women swimmers displaying exceptional stealth and stamina to dominate the medals table by taking 4 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze.

Melissa Corfe showed her talent in winning the 100m freestyle, and Natalie du Toit was key in the 4x200m relay win with Corfe, Kathryn Anne Meaklim and Jessica Pengelly.

Liezl-Mari Burger won second place in the 100m freestyle, while Pengelly and Meaklim returned for silver and bronze in the 400m Individual Medley respectively

In fencing, Rachel Barlow did her country proud by winning bronze in the Individual Epee, while judo practitioner Marisca Loots did remarkably well in the 70kg category to win a bronze medal amidst fierce competition.

Kelly Anderson progressed to the next round in the Tennis, while the women’s Chess team drew 2-all against a powerful Libyan team.

Saturday was another day of gold for South Africa at the swimming pools in Algiers, with Amanda Loots striking gold early with victory in the 30m butterfly.

The South African women continued their exceptional performance when Melissa Corfe won gold in the 200m freestyle and also set a new All Africa Games record.

The freestyle relay quartet of Liezel-Mari Burger, Chanelle van Wyk, Amanda Loots and Trudy Maree stepped up the pace to win gold in the 4×100 freestyle, Suzanne van Biljon followed up to win another gold in the 200m breaststroke, whilst Jessica Pengelly took silver in 200m breast stroke, a total of eight medals for the swimmers on the second day of competition.

The national women’s Volleyball team beat Ghana convincingly by a margin of 3-1, Ilse Heyes was one of two athletics silver medallists in the long jump, and beat that by taking gold in the 400m.

Team SA won a total of 10 medals on Saturday, bringing the total medal tally to 22, and sources position South Africa’s medal count at over 40 on Sunday, despite the official position listing South Africa as second to Tunisia by one medal – 28 to 29, with the implication that competition is fierce.