South Africa’s Smith Claims First Gold for Africa at Paris 2024 Olympics
- A South African athlete has become the first African to win gold at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games in France
- Tatjana Smith won gold in the Women's 100m breaststroke finals defeating a Chinese swimmer on Monday night
- Mzansi now have two medals at the biggest Sporting festival in Paris and are gunning for more in other events
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South African swimmer Tatjana Smith has secured Mzansi’s first gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Previously known as Tatjana Schoenmaker, she won gold in the Women’s 200m breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympics. Now recently married, she competes under her new surname, Smith.
Source: Getty Images
Tatjana Smith secures gold medal at Paris 2024 Olympic Games
Smith became the first African to win gold at the ongoing Olympic Games after winning the Women's 100m breaststroke finals on Monday night.
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She reached the wall first in 1:05.28, ahead of China's Tang Quianting, who clocked 1:05.54 and won the silver medal. Ireland's Mona McSharry finished third place and claimed the Bronze medal.
Smith has now won multiple medals across three Olympics she has participated in.
Fans react as Smith wins gold in 2024 Olympics
Bongani Mabhena said:
"Wow! Gold Tatjiana Smith! What a comeback towards the end! Brilliant."
jaybadza47 wrote:
"Oh my gosh, the most stressful race. Well done to Golden Girl Tatjiana Smith, that was the craziest finish."
FactualRandomly said:
"Tatjana!!! You almost gave the nation cardiac arrest!!!"
AfrikanChefZA commented:
"That was very stressful because shr was slacking behind varying from 3rd to 4th spot, until the last second."
@socratoshi reacted:
"And she was struggling timing the reach at the end yesterday…fixed and won gold with it overnight. Mark of a true champion! Humbled."
What you need to know about Tatjana Smith
Tatjana Smith is the first South African woman to win two Olympic gold medals since Penny Heyns achieved the feat in Atlanta in 1996. The Olympic swimmer is married to Joel Smith, brother of Rachel Kolisi; the couple wed at the Pat Busch Mountain Reserve in the Western Cape in 2023.
Previously known by her maiden surname, Schoenmaker, Tatjana hails from Johannesburg and holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Financial Services from the University of Pretoria.
She made her Olympic debut in Tokyo, becoming only the third South African woman to win an Olympic swimming title, joining Joan Harrison (1952) and Penny Heyns. Before her marriage to Joel Smith, Tatjana was reportedly in a relationship with fellow swimmer Ruan Ras.
Blitzboks win Mzansi’s first medal at 2024 Olympics
In a related publication, Briefly News reported that the Blitzboks earned a bronze medal at the rugby sevens tournament on Saturday, 27 July 2024.
The Blitzboks recovered from being down 7-5 in the first half to beat Australia 26-19 and achieve their goal of finishing on the podium.
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Source: Briefly News
