Even  doing this write up a few weeks after we watched these stunning races live, and I still get goose bumps. To see the greats live and in top form was once in a lifetime experience. The energy in the crowd, especially for the underdogs had me emotional each time I experienced it. This is the stuff that dream are made of, the culmination of a journey of genuine sacrifice, hard word, sweat, pain an grind, all paying off in a few seconds. And then that one moment of glory makes it all worthwhile!

Katinka Hosszu – The Iron Lady at her best

Katinka wins Gold and smashes the World Record in the Women’s 400m IM.

Mack Horton

Wins Gold in the Men’s 400m Freestyle

Kosuke Hagino

Wins Gold in Men’s 400m Individual Medley

Sarah Sjostrom

Breaks the Women’s 100m Butterfly Olympic Record in the Semi-finals and goes on to win gold and break the World Record in the Finals in a time of 55.48.

Cate Campbell

Breaks the Olympic Record in the Semi-Finals of the Womens 100m Freestyle.

Dmitriy Balandin

If you have a lane, you have a chance! Dmitriy Balandin winning it from lane 8. Amazing, less than 1 second between 1st place and 8th place in 200m breaststroke.

Mireia Belmonte Garcia

The Spanish queen wins Gold in the 200m Butterfly.

Katie Ledecky

Katie Ledecky breaks the Olympic Record in the heats of the Women’s 800m Freestyle.

Kyle Chalmers

Kyle Chalmers breaks the World Junior record in the Men’s 100m Freestyle heats. He the wins gold in the Men’s 100m Freestyle Final and break the World Junior record again.

Pernille Blume

Gold medalist in the 50m freestyle. 0.02 splits between each of the positions from 1 to 5.

Gregorio Paltrinieri

Gold in the Men’s 1500m Freestyle. So  close to the World Record, under World Record up until the last 100 meters.

USA Women’s 4 X 100m Medley Relay

Gold for the USA Women’s 4 X 100m Medley Relay team.

USA Men’s 4 X 100m Medley Relay

Gold for the USA Men’ 4 X 100m Medley Relay team in an Olympic Record time. This is how the great Michael Phelps bows out in style. Michael Phelps ecstatic and emotional after winning his final Olympic Gold medal.

19 AUGUST 2016

Super Sunette buries London disappointment with silver in Rio

Twice a Commonwealth javelin champion, Sunette Viljoen finally got her hands on a coveted Olympic Games medal on Thursday night. It’s been four long and painful years since the disappointment of the last Games in London as she ended one place off the podium with German opponent Linda Stahl beating her to bronze. Here in Rio, Viljoen’s form was evident from the get-go with her first throw setting the tone with a 64.92-metre effort. On another day it might have been good for gold but not this time as Croatian Sara Kolak collected top honours with a 66.18m best of the night. Viljoen’s only other two throws pegged at 61.04 and 63m but the 64.92 was good enough to seal silver.

‘I feel so overwhelmed. I was so close to the gold medal … it was right there until the end,’ said Viljoen who at 32 years of age, was the fourth oldest woman in the final.
‘To win a silver, I couldn’t ask for more after London. To come back after four years and to keep fighting … I couldn’t have asked for more. For a whole four years I’ve been praying and asking to be the Olympic champion. To come so close … I tried and tried and tried and I got the silver.’ Viljoen admitted that the memories of London were never far away on Thursday night. ‘My heart started to pump in the last round as if I had to lose a medal again in the last round I don’t know … but luckily it didn’t happen,’ Viljoen recalled.

She’s also certainly not done with competitive athletics, even at 32 and hinted that she has her sights set on a third Commonwealth Games title, with the next games being hosted by Gold Coast in Australia two years from now and she’ll stand a very real chance of grabbing her third gold at those Games.

SA bronze medallist’s biggest fan… on his journey to the podium
By Mark Etheridge

While an Olympic medal may be won by one person, in most cases there’s a team behind the scenes, or even a special person in particular. So as Henri Schoeman raced to South Africa’s first ever Olympic triathlon medal on the Rio beachfront on Thursday, he might just have heard an excited squeal from the African continent.
That came from his girlfriend of five years, Franzel Allen, back in KwaZulu-Natal… undoubtedly one of his biggest fans who has stuck with him through thick and thin,
through good times and bad.
So excited was Allen after Schoeman’s bronze medal that she went so far as to wear one of his tri-suits to her work as a commercial insurance broker on Friday morning.
She took time out to share just what it’s like dating an Olympic medallist and what the journey has been like to reach that podium.
‘I’m absolutely elated for him, there is no one on earth who deserves this more…
although I might be biased ‘This achievement has however rendered me speechless and I have so much love and pride in my heart for him. Henri is a very special guy, he has a quiet strength that demands to be heard and his dedication to his career is unshakable. He is so extremely humble and I think that can very well be his biggest appeal.
‘When we started dating back in 2011, I thought he was the best in the world when
he came fourth in a BSG race, little did I know…
‘With the years however came the experience. I saw every sacrifice, injury, disappointment and victory and I saw him dust it off and get back on his bike, put his head down and carry on.’ Sacrifices there were aplenty and as the saying goes ‘when days are dark friends are few’. ‘I saw him lose friends and get frowned upon because he can’t go to parties and events every other day. His idea of a great night, is chilling with his legs up and very few people understand why he actually needs to do that.

How Team SA fared on Friday

South Africa had competitors in action across just two codes on Friday (19 August). Here is how they fared.

ATHLETICS
Men’s 50km walk: Marc Mundell finished 37th in a time of 4hr 11min 33sec
In a nutshell: After a slow start, the 2012 Olympian steadily made his way through the field. He was lying 77th, 76th and 75th at the five, 10 and 15km marks and at halfway (passed in 2:03:06) he’d moved up to 68th. With 10km to go he had improved that to 43rd and made up another six positions over the final 10km. He ended 30:05 behind gold medallist Matej Toth of Slovakia.

Women’s 20km walk: Anel Oosthuizen finished 63rd in a time of 1:45:06
In a nutshell: The 21 -year-old found the going tough in her debut Olympics and was always near the back of the field as she ended 16:31 behind the winner, China’s Hong Liu. However, she’ll do well to savour the experience and know that she’s been on the biggest stage of all and be hungry for more in Tokyo 2020.

GOLF
Women’s competition, round three: Paulo Reto shot another under-par round, this time a 68 to add to her earlier 75 and 67. She sits at four-under par and in tie for eighth.
Ashleigh Simon shot a six-over 77 to be at eight-over par overall after earlier rounds 75 and

Source: Sascoc

17 AUGUST 2016

Semenya takes it all in her stride
By Mark Etheridge

It was just after 11 o’clock on Wednesday in the Olympic Stadium. As has become a familiar sight in Rio, the morning’s programme was sparsely attended. But, those in the stadium were witnessing probably the most anticipated athletics heat in the history of the Olympic Games.
Caster Semenya had arrived in Rio five days early but had been keeping a low profile in the athletes’ village, away from the media scrums that wanted to feast on her. Another way to put it was she was focusing on what lay ahead: the track, not the circus.

The South African’s inclusion at the 2016 Games had dominated the build-up, with questions being raised as to whether she should be allowed to compete given the complicated status of her gender. The short answer is the important one, for now. It’s ‘yes’. She had been cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to run as a woman. Case closed, until it is re-opened. Semenya is the overwhelming favourite to win the 800m gold medal when the final
is run on Sunday. It might even go down as her second Olympic gold, despite taking the silver in the same event at London 2012. Last November the World Anti-Doping Agency recommended that gold medallist Mariya Savinova of Russia be suspended for doping violations. This could yet see Semenya upgraded from silver.
Now 25, Semenya looks at peace with the world, and more importantly with herself and those who are close to her. Gone is the inner rage and hostility that consumed her in the wake of her despicable treatment following the 2009 World Championships where she won gold.

SA Flag flying high at the Rio Olympics 2016

Tired Marcia is hungry for more after Olympic debut
By Mark Etheridge

Stefano Marcia knew his Olympic Games debut was going to be tough… but not just how tough. ‘Wow it was tough,’ he exclaimed after his Laser class sailing competition came to a close with him not making the final cut for the medal regatta. He ended 40th overall from 46 boats and says it was sheer lack of experience that took it’s toll. ‘I think there were only about eight Olympic debutants and most of the others have at least two Olympics under their belt!’

He had opened his account with a 30th and 25th spot on opening day but then drifted dog course, figuratively, and was unable to get back to that form. ‘It’s incredibly hard to get consistent results, the weather changes constantly and I think you just have to have an incredibly all-round game here.
‘I prefer winds between 12-14 knots and flat water and am more used to that. This week we had a cold front coming through and there were 3-4 metre swells – on our small boats that looks like a block of flats coming straight at you!’

But there were encouraging signs for Marcia. ‘I led briefly on the first day and then again in one of the later races. But it just takes the finest mistake and suddenly like 19-20 boats go past you.’

How Team SA fared on Wednesday
Here is a list of those South Africans in Olympics action on Wednesday. All times are Rio local and in brackets is SA time, +5 hours).

ATHLETICS
Women’s 800m, heat 2: Caster Semenya won her heat in 1:59.31 to progress to Friday’s semi-finals
In a nutshell: This was probably the most anticipated heat in Olympic history and Semenya did what was required when she came from off the pace to ease through in 1:59.31. That was a full 1.40 seconds quicker than when she started her London 2012 campaign. Semenya looked relaxed and in cruise control throughout after the bell had rung at 58.23, before she kicked for home and past her rivals with 200m to go.

Men’s Decathlon, 100m, heat 2: Willem Coertzen finished seventh in his heat in 11.02sec. His morning didn’t get off to the best of starts, finishing seventh in his heat in this most gruelling of all-round events. His time left him 24th out of 32 competitors overall, on 834 points, some 189 behind leader Damian Warner.

Men’s Decathlon, Long Jump: Coertzen produced a leap of 6.98m to place 11^th in the long jump competition. The leap gave him 809 points, for a total of 1643 after two events. That left him in 27th place overall, as odds-on favourite Ashton Eaton moved to the top of the standings.

Men’s Decathlon, Shot Put: Coertzen recorded a season’s best 14.00 metres as he placed 11th in the discipline. It earned him 728 points and moved him up one place to 36th overall after three events, with 2 371 points. Eaton continued to lead with 2 803 points.

Men’s 5 000m, heat 2: Elroy Galant finished seventh in his heat, the faster of the two on the morning, and qualified for the final. His time was 13:22.0.
What he said: ‘I knew the it would be tough to get into the final. For sure, the guys weren’t going to take it out and I trusted my training and going out at 64sec a lap and to get to an 8km 3000. I knew the guys would catch me but also knew I had to go with them and I think my strategy worked. The final will be different ball game … tactical and probably a kick with 800/kay to go. It felt like Phalaborwa back home out there, really hot, and I think it caught me at the end but that’s OK.
Strategy is to be with those guys with a kay to go and stay in the top 4-5. I showed I can do it today now my mind must be that bit stronger and get a medalling mentality. It’s like a chess game… you have to move when the big guys move. Anything is possible in the final and I’ll take motivation from Wayde and let that stay in my head lap after lap. I need to be top five throughout and that’s my strategy.’

Brazilian Stadiums lit-up in glory at Rio Olympics 2016

CANOEING
Women’s Kayak K1, 500m, heat 2: London 2012 bronze medallist Bridgitte Hartley finished third in her heat in 1:55.737 and qualified comfortably for the semi-finals.
In a nutshell: Hungary’s Danuta Kozak led from start to finish as she and Maryna Litvinchuk of Belarus took a stranglehold on the field. Hartley showed some early competition with the boat bouncing a bit too much for comfort in the early stages out of the starting blocks. But she was content to bide her time and after going through 250m (halfway) in 57.50 in fourth place, got everything under control and also got into her stroke in the second half of the race. She did what she had to do to qualify for the semi-final with the first six finishers going through automatically.
As she re-focused for that semi-final, manager Craig Mustard was a busy man as he made sure the bright green racing machine was free of water drops and in pristine condition, just the way the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist in this event likes it!

Women’s Kayak K1, 500m, Semi-final 3: Hartley went off in the third lane of the third and last semi-final. The first two finishers in each semi went through automatically to the final, joined by the next two third-fastest boats. It was another slow start from Hartley and although she was closing fast at the finish she ended fifth of seven boats, 1.882sec behind winner Franziska Weber of Germany and into the B Final but not the coveted A Final and a medal chance. ME

GOLF
Women’s first round: Paula Reto teed off in the third group of the morning, alongside Nicole Larsen or Denmark and In Gee Kun of Korea. She finished on three-over par 74 after being one-under at a stage.

Women’s first round: Ashleigh Simon teed off in a group that also included Harukyo Nomura of Japan and Pernilla Lindberg of Sweden. She was four over par after eight holes and that’s where she stayed, signing for a 75.

CYCLING (BMX)
Men’s Seeding Run: Kyle Dodd ended 26th in the run +1.837sec behind leader Joris Daudet of France.
What he said: ‘Seeing the track was something I haven’t seen before. Besides the different colours which was definitely something new. The track looked so fun and fast. Once I got out there and got a few laps in I felt more comfortable each lap. What was nice is that we had multiple days and a lot of track time to get the track dialled in so there was no rush at all. The time trial was unbelievable, the vibe in the stadium, the crowd and most of all the support back home was insane – I still front of my family on the biggest stage in the world. It was something unreal and I’m so glad they good that they share that moment with m. My goal is the top 16 so we shall push for that, when I get there anything can happen.’

Source: Sascoc

16 AUGUST 2016

Ho happy with another top 10 finish at the Olympics
By Mark Etheridge

South Africa’s Chad Ho notched up his second top 10 finish at an Olympic open water swimming event as he came in just five seconds behind the winner at Fort Copacabana on Tuesday.
That 10th-placed finish will go very nicely thank-you, with his ninth spot at the Beijing Olympics eight years ago. Ho clocked 1hr 53min 04.8sec – behind winner Ferry Weertman of the Netherlands after 10km of duelling. Earlier, the two were the last pair of swimmers out of the call room before a bemused early-morning crowd of joggers, dog walkers and early sun worshippers on the world-famous beach.
Story of the race was that it could have been one of the all-time stories of open water swimming as Aussie Jarrod Poort was off and away, perhaps in search of an early sip of popular cocktail caipirinha on the beach, the choice of many early morning beach-goers.
Team SA open-water coach, Cedric Finch and national swimming coach Graham Hill were both part of the onlookers and were in unanimous agreement that Poort had done a ‘runner’ and wouldn’t be caught.

Now SA’s women get into the swing
South Africa’s Ashleigh Simon and Paula Reto are among the world’s top women golfers set to take the Olympic stage on Wednesday. A field of 60 competitors in the women’s golf competition will be seeking to follow in the footsteps of American Margaret Abbott, who won the gold medal in Paris in 1900.
Like Adilson da Silva in the men’s competition, the host nation’s Miriam Nagl will hit the opening tee shot at 7.30am in the company of Irish amateur Leona Maguire and Kelly Tan of Malaysia. Nagl’s drive will mark the return of women’s golf as an Olympic sport after an absence of 116 years. South Africa’s Paula Reto will hit South Africa’s first shot at 7.52am.
Reto is teeing off with Nicole Broch Larsen from Denmark – the Ladies European Tour Player of the Year in 2015 – and last year’s US Women’s Open Championship winner Chun In Gee from South Korea.

How Team SA fared on Tuesday
There were four codes representing Team SA on Tuesday. Here is a rundown of how they finished. All times are local and SA times are in brackets.

SWIMMING
Men’s 10km open water marathon: Chad Ho placed 10th after producing a strong finish, coming home only five seconds behind the winner and two seconds off the bronze medal.
In a nutshell: The Australian Jarrod Poort set a strong pace, swimming alone out front virtually from the start. By the first split, at 2.5km, he’d pulled out a 58 second lead over the chasing pack, led by Tunisia’s Oussama Mellouli. At that stage Ho was amongst a group and timed 64sec behind Poort, in 15th. By halfway Poort had stretched 76 seconds clear in a brave attempt to swim the 10km virtually on his own. Marc-Antonie Olivier of France was now leading the chasers with Ho 20th, 87 seconds back. At the 7.5km marker Poort still led by 40 seconds, and Mellouli had got himself at the front of the group going after him. Then, the Australian seemed to make an error and went too far past a marker and the gap closed, rapidly. He was swallowed up by the pack in the chase home and slipped to 20th overall, 40 seconds back. Ferry Weertman, of the Netherlands, came through strongest of the chasers, while Ho finished just as strongly, closing the gap quickly. It was a remarkable comeback by the South African and he placed 10th in a photo finish in 1:53.04.8, exactly five seconds off Weertman. He was 2.8sec off the bronze position. GL

ATHLETICS
Men’s 200m heat 2: Anaso Jobodwana, the world championship bronze medallist, finished fourth in his heat, in 20.53. He failed to make it through the heats. Bruno Hortelano (20.12) led home Yohan Blake (20.13) with Ameer Webb (20.31) third. Jobodwana showed up well around the bend from lane three, but faded inside the last 40m.

Men’s 200m, heat 4: Gift Leotlea finished fourth in his heat, in 20.59 and he failed to make it through the heats. He had come to Rio with a season’s best 20.47.

Men’s 200m, heat 6: Clarence Munyai, running in lane 8, finished strongly for third in his heat, in 20.66. He failed to make it through the heats. He had come to Rio with a season’s best 20.36.

Women’s javelin, qualifying: Sunette Viljoen came, launched and left with a firstthrow of 63.54  metres which gained her automatic qualification into the final. Benchmark was 63.00m or at least the best 12 throwers. She’ll be more than happy to take that forward.

Women’s 400m hurdles semi-finals: Wenda Nel ended sixth in heat three with a time of 55.83 so failed to make it through to the final, well off her season’s best of 54.47sec.

Women’s long jump, qualifying: Lynique Prinsloo ended with a jump of 6.10m to finish 16th of 19 competitors in Group B. Leader of the pack was Brittney Reese of the United States with a 6.78. Automatic qualifying was set at a minimum 6.75 or the 12 best finishers. Top qualifier was Ivana Spanovic of Croatia with a 6.87m effort.

Men’s 400m hurdles semi-finals: LJ van Zyl ended fifth in heat two of three with a time of 49.00 seconds on the button. He needed a top two-spot in the semi to get the automatic spot. Looking good until the last stages, he was passed by a host of runners in the last 50m. He would have had to run 0.15sec quicker as one of the fastest qualifiers to get through.

CANOEING
Women’s K1 200m B-Final: Bridgitte Hartley finished fifth in the race, with a time of 42.066sec. The winner was Hungary’s Natasha Douchev-Janic in 41.673

SAILING
Men’s 470 class, Races nine and 10: Asenathi Jim and Roger Hudson wrapped up with an 18th and 23rd spot which earned them 20th spot overall after around a week of extremely hard racing.
Source: Sascoc