South Africa at the
Olympics
IOC codeRSA
NOCSouth African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee
Websitewww.sascoc.co.za
Medals
Ranked 39th
Gold
27
Silver
33
Bronze
29
Total
89
Summer appearances
Winter appearances

South Africa first participated at the Olympic Games in 1904, and sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games until 1960. After the passage of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1761 in 1962 in response to South Africa's policy of apartheid, the nation was barred from the Games.

After the negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa commenced in 1990, the nation re-joined the Olympic movement. The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee was created in 1991, and South Africa returned to the Games at the 1992 Summer Olympics (and the 1992 Summer Paralympics). South Africa also participated in the Winter Olympic Games in 1960, and since 1994.

South African athletes have won a total of 89 medals, with athletics, boxing, and swimming as the top medal-producing sports.

History

1904 marathon participants Tau and Mashiani stand in a stadium looking at the camera, both wearing hats
Mashiani (left) and Tau before the race[1]

South African athletes first participated in the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, when few foreign athletes arrived and the organisers invited participants of the adjacent 1904 World's Fair to compete.[2] General Piet Cronjé, Len Taunyane, and Jan Mashiani, all Boer War veterans who had been taken prisoner by the British at St. Helena after the Battle of Paardeberg and had reenacted battle scenes at the fair, participated in the men's marathon.[2] Len Taunyane and Jan Mashiani were the first black Africans to participate in the Olympics, and the only blacks to represent South Africa in the Olympics until the end of apartheid.[2]

Although the four British colonies of Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River did not form the Union of South Africa until 1910, they fielded a combined South Africa team at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, where Reggie Walker won its first gold medal.[2] The first South African woman in the Olympics was swimmer Barbara Nash in 1920, and the first women to win medals were the 1928 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay quartet, who came third.[2] The South African Olympic and Empire Games Association was awarded the 1934 British Empire Games in Johannesburg but backed out when it became evident that they would have to allow a team from India to compete.[2]

South Africa first entered the Winter Olympics in 1960, and that summer's games in Rome would be its last till the end of apartheid.[2] It was not invited to the 1964 Games, and its 1968 invitation was withdrawn when other teams threatened to withdraw. The South African Olympic and National Games Association was expelled from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1970.

The nonracial Interim National Olympic Committee of South Africa (now South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee) was founded in 1991 during the transition to multiracial equality and affiliated to the IOC months later. The country returned at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.[2]

Medal tables

Medals by sport

SportGoldSilverBronzeTotal
Athletics913628
Swimming77620
Boxing64919
Tennis3216
Cycling1438
Rowing1113
Shooting0101
Surfing0101
Canoeing0011
Rugby0011
Triathlon0011
Totals (11 entries)27332989

List of medalists

Medal Name Games Sport Event
 GoldReggie Walker1908 London AthleticsMen's 100m
 SilverCharles Hefferon1908 London AthleticsMen's Marathon
 GoldKen McArthur1912 Stockholm AthleticsMen's Marathon
 GoldRudolph Lewis1912 Stockholm CyclingMen's Individual Time Trial
 GoldHarold Kitson
Charles Winslow
1912 Stockholm TennisMen's Doubles Outdoor
 GoldCharles Winslow1912 Stockholm TennisMen's Singles Outdoor
 SilverChristian Gitsham1912 Stockholm AthleticsMen's Marathon
 SilverHarold Kitson1912 Stockholm TennisMen's Singles Outdoor
 GoldBevil Rudd1920 Antwerp AthleticsMen's 400m
 GoldClarence Walker1920 Antwerp BoxingMen's Bantamweight
 GoldLouis Raymond1920 Antwerp TennisMen's Singles
 SilverHenry Dafel
Jack Oosterlak
Clarence Oldfield
Bevil Rudd
1920 Antwerp AthleticsMen's 400m Relay
 SilverHenry Kaltenbrunn1920 Antwerp CyclingMen's Individual Time Trial
 SilverWilliam Smith
James Walker
1920 Antwerp CyclingMen's Tandem
 SilverDavid Smith
Robert Bodley
Ferdinand Buchanan
Frederick Morgan
1920 Antwerp ShootingMen's Team 600m Military Rifle
 BronzeBevil Rudd1920 Antwerp AthleticsMen's 800m
 BronzeJames Walker
William Smith
Henry Kaltenbrunn
Harry Goosen
1920 Antwerp CyclingTeam Pursuit
 BronzeCharles Winslow1920 Antwerp TennisMen's Singles
 GoldWilliam Smith1924 Paris BoxingMen's Bantamweight
 SilverSydney Atkinson1924 Paris AthleticsMen's 110m Hurdles
 BronzeCecil McMaster1924 Paris AthleticsMen's 10 Km Walk
 GoldSydney Atkinson1928 Amsterdam AthleticsMen's 110m Hurdles
 BronzeHarry Isaacs1928 Amsterdam BoxingMen's Bantamweight
 BronzeRhoda Rennie
Frederica van der Goes
Mary Bedford
Kathleen Russell
1928 Amsterdam SwimmingWomen's 4 × 100m Freestyle Relay
 GoldLawrence Stevens1932 Los Angeles BoxingMen's lightweight
 GoldDavid Carstens1932 Los Angeles BoxingMen's light-heavyweight
 BronzeMarjorie Clark1932 Los Angeles AthleticsWomen's 80m hurdles
 BronzeErnest Peirce1932 Los Angeles BoxingMen's middleweight
 BronzeJenny Maakal1932 Los Angeles SwimmingWomen's 400m freestyle
 SilverCharles Catterall1936 Berlin BoxingMen's featherweight
 GoldGerald Dreyer1948 London BoxingMen's lightweight
 GoldGeorge Hunter1948 London BoxingMen's light-heavyweight
 SilverDennis Shepherd1948 London BoxingMen's featherweight
 BronzeJohn Arthur1948 London BoxingMen's heavyweight
 GoldEsther Brand1952 Helsinki AthleticsWomen's high jump
 GoldJoan Harrison1952 Helsinki SwimmingWomen's 100m backstroke
 SilverDaphne Robb-Hasenjäger1952 Helsinki AthleticsWomen's 100m
 SilverTheunis Van Schalkwyk1952 Helsinki BoxingMen's light-middleweight
 SilverRaymond Robinson
Thomas Shardelow
1952 Helsinki Cycling (Track)Men's 2000m tandem
 SilverGeorge Estman
Robert Fowler
Thomas Shardelow
Alfred Swift
1952 Helsinki Cycling (Track)Men's team pursuit (4000m)
 BronzeWilliam Toweel1952 Helsinki BoxingMen's flyweight
 BronzeLeonard Leisching1952 Helsinki BoxingMen's featherweight
 BronzeAndries Nieman1952 Helsinki BoxingMen's heavyweight
 BronzeRaymond Robinson1952 Helsinki Cycling (Track)Men's 1 km time trial
 BronzeDaniel Bekker1956 Melbourne/Stockholm BoxingMen's heavyweight
 BronzeHenry Loubscher1956 Melbourne/Stockholm BoxingMen's light-welterweight
 BronzeAlfred Swift1956 Melbourne/Stockholm Cycling (Track)Men's 1 km time trial
 BronzeMoira Abernethy
Jeanette Myburgh
Natalie Myburgh
Susan Elizabeth Roberts
1956 Melbourne/Stockholm SwimmingWomen's 4 × 100m freestyle relay
 SilverDaniel Bekker1960 Rome BoxingMen's heavyweight
 BronzeMalcolm Clive Spence1960 Rome AthleticsMen's 400m
 BronzeWilliam Meyers1960 Rome BoxingMen's featherweight
 SilverElana Meyer1992 Barcelona AthleticsWomen's 10,000m
 SilverWayne Ferreira
Piet Norval
1992 Barcelona TennisMen's Doubles
 GoldJosia Thugwane1996 Atlanta AthleticsMen's marathon
 GoldPenelope Heyns1996 Atlanta SwimmingWomen's 100m breaststroke
 GoldPenelope Heyns1996 Atlanta SwimmingWomen's 200m breaststroke
 SilverHezekiel Sepeng1996 Atlanta AthleticsMen's 800m
 BronzeMarianne Kriel1996 Atlanta SwimmingWomen's 100m backstroke
 SilverHestrie Cloete2000 Sydney AthleticsWomen's high jump
 SilverTerence Parkin2000 Sydney SwimmingMen's 200m breaststroke
 BronzeLlewellyn Herbert2000 Sydney AthleticsMen's 400m hurdles
 BronzeFrantz Kruger2000 Sydney AthleticsMen's discus throw
 BronzePenelope Heyns2000 Sydney SwimmingWomen's 100m breaststroke
 GoldLyndon Ferns
Ryk Neethling
Roland Mark Schoeman
Darian Townsend
2004 Athens SwimmingMen's 4 × 100m freestyle relay
 SilverMbulaeni Mulaudzi2004 Athens AthleticsMen's 800m
 SilverHestrie Cloete2004 Athens AthleticsWomen's high jump
 SilverRoland Mark Schoeman2004 Athens SwimmingMen's 100m freestyle
 BronzeDonovan Cech
Ramon di Clemente
2004 Athens RowingMen's coxless pair
 BronzeRoland Mark Schoeman2004 Athens SwimmingMen's 50m freestyle
 SilverKhotso Mokoena2008 Beijing AthleticsMen's long jump
 GoldSizwe Ndlovu
Matthew Brittain
John Smith
James Thompson
2012 London RowingMen's Lightweight Four
 GoldCameron van der Burgh2012 London SwimmingMen's 100m breaststroke
 GoldChad le Clos2012 London SwimmingMen's 200m butterfly
 GoldCaster Semenya2012 London AthleticsWomen's 800m
 SilverChad le Clos2012 London SwimmingMen's 100m butterfly
 BronzeBridgitte Hartley2012 London CanoeingWomen's K-1 500m
 GoldWayde Van Niekerk2016 Rio de JaneiroAthleticsMen's 400m
 GoldCaster Semenya2016 Rio de JaneiroAthleticsWomen's 800m
 SilverChad le Clos2016 Rio de JaneiroSwimmingMen's 200m freestyle
 SilverShaun Keeling
Lawrence Brittain
2016 Rio de JaneiroRowingMen's coxless pair
 SilverChad le Clos2016 Rio de JaneiroSwimmingMen's 100m butterfly
 SilverCameron van der Burgh2016 Rio de JaneiroSwimmingMen's 100m breaststroke
 SilverLuvo Manyonga2016 Rio de JaneiroAthleticsMen's long jump
 SilverSunette Viljoen2016 Rio de JaneiroAthleticsWomen's javelin throw
 BronzeCheslin Kolbe
Juan de Jongh
Seabelo Senatla
Justin Geduld
Kyle Brown
Cecil Afrika
Kwagga Smith
Werner Kok
Rosko Specman
Philip Snyman
Dylan Sage
Francois Hougaard
Tim Agaba
2016 Rio de JaneiroRugby SevensMen's tournament
 BronzeHenri Schoeman2016 Rio de JaneiroTriathlonMen's Triathlon
 GoldTatjana Schoenmaker2020 TokyoSwimmingWomen's 200m breaststroke
 SilverTatjana Schoenmaker2020 TokyoSwimmingWomen's 100m breaststroke
 SilverBianca Buitendag2020 TokyoSurfingWomen's Shortboard

See also

References

  1. van der Merwe, Floris J.G. (1999). "Africa's First Encounter with the Olympic Games In....1904" (PDF). Journal of Olympic History. September 1999. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021 via International Society of Olympic Historians – ISOH.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Laubscher, Lappe (23 August 2017). "South Africa and the Olympic Games". South African History Online. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
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