With just days to go before the Olympic flame is lit and the Games begin, Team SA are gearing up to begin their medal quest in Paris.
Leading the charge will be the swimmer who brought back two of the country’s three medals at the last Games in Tokyo, Tatjana Smith (formerly Schoenmaker), who will once again be gunning for glory in both the 100 and 200m breaststroke.
Smith has struggled slightly with injury this season but still managed to produce a speedy time of 2:19.01 in the 200m breaststroke at the SA national championships in April – the quickest of anyone in the world this year.
Her time of 1:05.41 to claim another national 100m breaststroke title, also in April, places her third quickest this year. But it will come down to whether she can reproduce those times in Paris.
“This is my second time going but it doesn’t make it any less exciting than the first time so I’m very excited,” she said after being announced as part of Team SA.
“I think Paris is going to be exciting. My parents will be there, and my husband, so it will be completely different [to Tokyo].”
Smith’s teammate and training partner, Kaylene Corbett, will also be in the mix in the 200m breaststroke, having swum her best-ever time of 2:22.06 in the Tokyo final to finish fifth three years ago.
Erin Gallagher, Rebecca Meder and Aimee Canny are the other women to be competing in the Paris pool – meaning the women outnumber the men on the SA swimming team. This is a significant achievement, considering there were no female pool swimmers on the team to the Rio Games eight years ago.
Meanwhile, others who have looked in good shape in the build-up to Paris include rising 800m star Prudence Sekgodiso, who seems to get quicker every time she steps on the track. The 22-year-old has won two Diamond League races this season and her best time of 1:57.26 places her joint seventh in the world this year.
“Prudence is talented enough to definitely medal, there’s no two ways about it,” reckoned SA athletics team manager in Paris, Jean Verster. “But we’ve got to get through that first-round recovery.
“I hope we can just get her recovered well through the rounds and keep her focused and definitely if she’s in the final… she has a very good chance of medalling! She’s really tough… Hezekiel [Sepeng] showed that to us in 1996, he came from nowhere and got the silver medal, and I think she can do that as well.”
Elsewhere, Candice Lill will be an athlete to keep an eye on in the cross country mountain biking, having proven she has what it takes by reaching two UCI World Cup podiums in recent weeks.
“It’s been going really well, especially the last weeks and months. It’s all come together really nicely, “ said Lill from her training base in Italy. “I’ve had some of my best results on the international stage, and it’s really changed the game for me actually, in terms of what I’m aiming for in Paris.
“I’ve never felt this confident on the bike before, and raced as well, so that gives me a lot of confidence,” she added.
Also feeling confident heading to Paris is rower Paige Badenhorst, who will be competing in the singles sculls.
“I’m seeing good speeds and I mean, to make an A or B final would be incredible! That is the goal, I’m aiming high and going to just try and get as close as I can,” she explained.
More important for the 25-year-old, who apart from being an Olympian, also rowed to Boat Race glory with the Cambridge crew in 2022, is being a role model to young female rowers.
“I’d like to think that seeing me will inspire more girls to continue the sport after school… that would be amazing. I looked up to a lot of female rowers during my time who were at the Olympic Games, and now I’m one of them, which is crazy, and I really, really hope that my journey inspires them.
“I hope it shows at least a couple of girls out there that they don’t have to be the fastest now, it’s a long journey and they should just keep working really hard and showing up for themselves, that it’s possible for them. I really hope that I can inspire them in that way,” added Badenhorst.
Over 15,000km from the French capital, Sarah Baum will be flying the nation’s flag high in the surfing competition which will be contested in Tahiti. Inspired by Bianca Buitendag’s unexpected silver medal in Tokyo three years ago, Baum is out to spring a few surprises of her own.
“Seeing Bianca bring home the medal at the last Olympic Games was amazing,” she said. “It has definitely given me a bit of extra motivation to do well but I also just want to stick to my own game and do my best.
“I’m so excited, it’s hard to know what to expect but just to be there and represent my country and family is a dream come true.”
The Olympic Games get under way in Paris on 26 July and run until 11 August. Apart from the individual athletes taking part, there will be two SA women’s teams to follow – in the rugby sevens and hockey tournaments.
Original Copy: Karien Jonckheere in Paris for the gsport Newsroom
Photo Caption: Counting down the days – now in the low single digits – as elite athletes complete preparations ahead of the long-awaited spectacular opening of the biggest sporting showpiece in the world. Here’s how our ladies in Team SA are looking for #Paris2024. Photo: Laureus on Facebook