Team SA started Friday with four medals with Tatjana Smith (gold and silver) and the men’s sevens rugby and Alan Hatherly (bronze) lifting them to 18th place on the overall table. For now, China (13 gold) lead France (11), Australia (10) and Great Britain (9) and the United States (9) in the standings.
Chad le Clos, in his fourth Olympics, was eliminated after the heats of the men’s 100m butterfly. He cut a distraught figure as he clutched his right shoulder area, a tear that he had carried into the race and which proved too much to overcome.
In the men’s golf, Erik van Rooyen carded a second round 69 to go with his opening 67. That left him on six-under 136 at the halfway mark at Golf National. Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama and Tommy Fleetwood, all on 11-under 131 after 36 holes. Van Rooyen was three shots off the medals after 36 holes and tied 10th. Christiaan Bezuidenhout signed for a second-round 71 to go with his opening 70, for a halfway total of 141, 10 shots off the pace, having finished with a double-bogey on the 18th.
When it came to athletics, 800m runner Prudence Sekgodiso impressed when she finished a relaxed second in her heat to qualify for the semi-final with a 1:59.84 race. Big shot putter Kyle Blignaut suffered disappointment when he was unable to qualify for Saturday’s final. Only the top six putters from each of Groups A and B went through to the 12-man final, and the South African’s effort of 20.78m left him in seventh and out.
In the 10 000m Adriaan Wildschutt finished 10th in 26:50.7 having been in medal contention with a handful of laps to go
In men’s hockey action, a flurry of three late goals saw Team SA record their first win of the Olympics when they. beat hosts France 5-2. They therefore finished their tournament on a high.
ATHLETICS
Men’s 1 500m, round 1, heats: Ryan Mphahlele finished 12th in his heat in 3:38.48 which placed him 38th overall and into the repechage
Men’s 1 500m, round 1, heats: Tshepo Tshite finished 13th in his heat in 3:36.87 which placed him 23rd overall and into the repechage
Women’s 800m, round 1, heats: Prudence Sekgodiso finished a comfortable second in her heat in 1:59.84 to qualify for the semi-finals.
Men’s shot put, qualification, Group B: Kyle Blignaut had a distance of 20.78m which placed him seventh in the group and missing out on the final.
Men’s 10 000m, final: Adriaan Wildschutt finished 10th in 26:50.7 having been in medal contention with a handful of laps to go. The winner was Joshua Cheptegei who took gold in a Games record 26:43.14.
GOLF
Men’s Individual, second round
T10th 67, 69 (136) Erik van Rooyen. The South African posted five birdies and three bogeys for a second-round 69, leaving him only five shots behind the leaders, defending Olympic champion and double Major winner for 2024, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama and Tommy Fleetwood.
T36th 70, 71 (141) Christiaan Bezuidenhout added a lever par 71 to his opening 70. He went out in three-under 33 before double bogeys at the 13th and 18th proved costly.
HOCKEY
Men’s Pool A: Team SA 5, France 2
ROWING
Men’s Pair B, final: John Smith and Christopher Baxter finished third in 6:27.11, behind the boats of New Zealand 6:24.55 and Lithuania (6.25.94). This placed them 9th overall
SWIMMING
Men’s 100m butterfly, heats: Clad le Clos finished second in his heat, behind Jiajun Sun, in 52.24 but he was unable reach the semi-finals, in 24th position. In the same heat Matthew Sates finished seventh in 54.53, which placed him 35th overall and also out of the top 16 semi-finalists
Women’s 200m IM, heats: Rebecca Meder finished fourth in her heat in 2:11.96 which secured her the 16th and last spot in the evening’s semi-finals
Semi-finals: Meder improved on her morning swim and she finished fifth in her race in 2:10.67. That placed her a creditable 11th, narrowly missing out on a place in the final.
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