Team SA were involved in five sports at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Saturday as the Games started drawing to a close. They had started with five medals but javelin thrower Jo-Ane van Dyk upped it to six with a brilliant effort of 63.93m.
Also in finals action at a packed Stade de France on Saturday night were high jumper Brian Raats and the men’s 4x400m relay squad.
The men’s marathon saw Elroy Galant and Stephen Mokoka take to the Paris roads and hills. Galant finished a fine 11th overall, in 2.09:07, while Mokoka crossed the line in 27th position, dipping under 2:11 by one second.
Canoeist Hamish Lovemore won his 1 000m B-Final which placed him ninth overall, to end his Games on a high.
Wrestler Nicholas de Lange was always going to be up against it in terms of his draw and lost his match, while golfers Ashleigh Buhai and Paula Reto wrapped up four days at Le National Golf.
China (38 golds) lead the United States (37), Australia (18), Japan (17) and France (15) in the medal standings. Team SA are 40th with one gold (Tatjana Smith), three silvers (Smith, men’s 4x100m and Van Dyk) and two bronzes (men’s Sevens rugby and Alan Hatherly).
ATHLETICS
Men’s marathon: Elroy Galant finished 11th in 2hr 9min 7sec, some 2min 41sec behind the gold medallist, Tamarat Tola. The Ethiopian set an Olympic record in winning in 2.06:26. Stephen Mokoka was 27th, with a time of 2.10:59.
Men’s high jump, final: Brian Raats finished 12th with an opening height of 2.17m
Women’s javelin, final: SILVER! Jo-Ane van Dyk threw a distance of 63.93m to take second position
Men’s 4x400m, final: Team SA finished fifth behind the United States in a national record 2:58.12
CANOEING
Men’s kayak single 1 000m semi-finals: Hamish Lovemore finished eighth in 3:38.39 and qualified for the B-final
Men’s kayak single 1 000m B-Final: Lovemore won his race in 3:27.94, which would have placed him fourth in the A-final and he took ninth place overall
CYCLING
Men’s keiren, first round heats: Jean Spies finished sixth in his heat and advanced to the repechage
Men’s keiren, repechage: Spies finished fifth in his heat and didn’t progress to the quarter-finals
GOLF
Women’s individual, final round
T13th 285 Ashleigh Buhai 68, 73, 74, 70 (3-under)
T44th 299 Paula Reto 78, 73, 76, 72 (11-over)
WRESTLING
Men’s 97kg freestyle, 1/8 final: Nicholas de Lange lost 12-2 to Givi Matcharashvili (Georgia). Victory by technical superiority
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