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Team South Africa to dig deep at the 2012 London Olympics
Your guide to our boys and girls in green and gold
The 2012 London Olympics kicked off with a bang on Friday, 27 July, and after a somewhat bizarre, but no less entertaining opening ceremony – perhaps the capitalist nations should leave synchronized group dance to their more experienced communist counterparts – the event looks to occupy every spare athletic second until Sunday, 12 August.
Now, with just one weekend left of contests, Team South Africa, made up of 125 phenomenal athletes competing in 17 different events, has already surpassed the number of medals it won in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Thus far, the nation’s heroes who’ve made the largest splashes are all competitors in water-based activities.
- Home-trained 100m-breaststroke swimmer Cameron van der Burgh surged ahead of his competitors to not only become the first South African man to win an Olympic gold in an individual event, but also to break the world record formerly held by Australian Brenton Rickard. He finished in a lightning fast 58.46 seconds, 0.12 seconds faster than Rickard’s previous benchmark.
- Similarly, phenomenal young star Chad Le Clos left an entire nation riddled with goosebumps, tears and joy with his gold medal win in the 200m-butterfly final, a victory snatched from his childhood hero, Michael Phelps, by a split second. He also tied with Russia's Evgeny Korotyshkin for second place in the 100m-butterfly final.
- The rowing team - John Smith, Sizwe Ndlovu, Matthew Brittain and James Thompson – were so inspired by Le Clos’s tight win against Phelps that they re-enacted the sweaty-palmed finish in their race. With a body-busting attempt in the final 500m, they won the gold by a quarter-of-a-second after spending most of the race outside of the top three.
Oscar Pistorius was knocked out of the 400m semi-finals, finishing in last place, but SA’s golden boy has melted hearts and inspired the world with his amazing journey to the Olympics and his determination to show the world that a disability is not debilitating.
TeamSA are definitely making ripples at this year’s Olympics and we hope to see more inspiring wins before the close on Sunday, 12 August 2012.
Athletes competing Friday 10, August
10, August: 11:30am Tiffany Kruger: Canoe Sprint - Women's Kayak Single (K1) 200m Heats
10, August: 01:00pm Hercules Prinsloo: Swimming - Men’s 10km Marathon
10, August: 10:20pm Athletics - Men's 4x400m Relay Finals
2012 London Olympics Television Schedule
Get your energy drinks and sweatbands on to catch the opening ceremony on Friday, 27 July at 9:30 on SABC 2.
Bev and Cameron van De Burgh
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Get off the couch and sprint down to one of these hot spots to watch the 2012 London Olympics.
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