There were five different codes being represented by Team South Africa on Tuesday (9 August). Here is a list of South Africans in competition. Times are Rio local and in brackets is SA time. All reporting below by Gary Lemke (GL) and Mark Etheridge (ME)… RUGBY SEVENS Men’s Pool B: South Africa were untroubled – winning 24-0 against […]

It was well after midnight when South Africa’s Chad le Clos faced the media after his silver medal in the men’s 200m freestyle had doubled the country’s tally at these Games and taken his personal Olympic total to three – and counting. ‘It was a crazy race,’ Le Clos said of his 1min 45.20sec heroics that saw […]

There was action for South Africa’s rowers, swimmers and a sailor on Monday. Times are Rio local and in brackets is SA time. ROWING Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls: Kirsten McCann and Ursula Grobler won their heat in 7min 07.37sec to progress straight to Wednesday’s semi-finals. In a nutshell: Better conditions for the rowers after Sunday’s debacle. McCann and Grobler […]

It’s the rematch that’s been four years in the making. Can you just imagine if it was staged by Don King Productions. It ought to be, it’s that big. In the one corner you’ve got the defending Olympic 200m butterfly champion, Chad le Clos. The confident, never-say-die South African who refuses to lose. Younger, brasher, […]

Here is a list of South Africans in competition on 8 August (Monday). Times are Rio local and in brackets is SA time. ROWING 11.30am (4.30pm): Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (Heat 3): Kirsten McCann and Ursula Grobler 12.20pm (5.20pm): Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (Heat 4): James Thompson and John Smith 12.40pm (5.40pm): Women’s Pair (Heat 2): Lee-Ann Persse and […]

South Africa’s national rugby side has produced a brilliant – and humorous – spoof video with a special message for the country’s Olympic athletes in Rio, Brazil. Watch the Springboks’ message to SA’s Olympic Heroes – #teamSArise #LoveRugby  

CRICKET SOUTH AFRICA has today banned four players for attempted match fixing, saying they breached CSA’s Anti-Corruption Code for Personnel (“the Code”). The banned players – who have admitted contraventions of the Code – are Jean Symes, Pumelela Matshikwe, Ethy Mbhalati and former Test wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile. The banning of these four players follows lengthy investigations and […]

There’s been a wonderful sense of pandemonium in the Johannesburg traffic this morning as the Springboks and Blitzboks celebrate South African Women’s Day with #FreeCoffeeForLadies. With signs like “hoot if you are a lady and you #LoveRugby”, the SA national rugby players chose to celebrate Women’s Day by handing out free coffee to the lucky ladies. […]

South African swimmer Cameron van der Burgh has put Team SA on the Olympic medals table in Rio… just like he did in London four years ago. Although this time he won silver, not gold… but as he says “silver is a nice colour too”. Van der Burgh pulled out all the stops in the final […]

South Africa’s champion swimmer Chad le Clos kept his Olympic dream alive today as he qualified in the Men’s 200m Freestyle with a new personal best and finished in third place overall. Reporting for SASCOC today, Gary Lemke said: “Chad le Clos stuck his hand up as a potential medallist when he powered his way […]

While South Africans at home seemed to hate their Olympic team’s outfits worn at the opening ceremony of the Games in Rio… it appears the rest of the world LOVED them, with South Africa featuring in several Top 10 lists for BEST dressed team! South Africans tweeted up a storm of complaints after watching the Ceremony […]

RIO – Louis Meintjes and Daryl Impey kickstart Team South Africa’s individual Olympic campaign when they take to the roads – and hills – around Rio on Saturday in the men’s cycling road race. Both competed in the Tour de France and Meintjes rode out of his skin to finish eighth overall in the torturous […]

The streets of Rio are suddenly visibly more patrolled as the 2016 Olympics burst into life, writes GARY LEMKE. Heavily armed military are on foot and in vehicles. Helicopter blades cut through the air as they hover in the sky, noticeably above Olympic Park where the athletes’ village is, and which houses a number of Games venues. […]

His trip to a debut Olympics delayed by a typhoon this week, South Africa’s sole badminton player will be looking for his own hurricane-sized upset next week. Based in Shenzhen, China, Maliekal finally arrived here on Wednesday afternoon after being set to leave Hong Kong on Monday afternoon. ‘There was a typhoon warning so I […]

STELLENBOSCH – Springbok coach, Allister Coetzee, said he is happy with the outcome of the rehabilitation and conditioning camp which finished on Thursday in Stellenbosch. A group of 19 selected players attended the four-day camp, which started on Monday at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport. The purpose of the camp was to ascertain first-hand the […]

As the Rio Olympics 2016 gets set for the Opening Ceremony tonight, the South African team has been boosted with a a brilliant show of support by a #GoTeamSA video launched by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) this morning. The video – with the SA national anthem as its soundtrack – reveals South Africans from […]

On a field in Durban, South Africa, in 2012, Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira held a catapulting mate up in the air… and quite likely saved him from serious injury. His feat has become the stuff of legend and the video below has been watched over 1.3 million times! UPDATE: Beast retires from rugby. Beast’s heroic save […]

Congratulatory messages have poured in from around the country for South African National Cricket Team fast bowler Kagiso Rabada after he scooped a record-breaking six awards at the glittering Cricket South Africa (CSA) Awards in Sandton last night. Rabada won the SA Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year, ODI Cricketer of the Year, SA Players’ Player […]

A white guy’s dance moves at the University of Pretoria (Tuks), South African, have caught the attention of his fellow black compatriots and social media around the country. The video was first uploaded by Varsity Sports to Twitter last week, with a message: “Could this be @TuksSport #TeamCelebration when they score on Monday? #Iyachesa #VarsityFootball.” “This […]

When new Springbok coach Allister Coetzee met the South African national team at Cape Town International airport for their first team assembly under his guidance he had a surprise in store for them. As reported in SAPeople at the time, he instructed the Boks to hitchhike their way to the training camp in Stellenbosch rather than […]

For all those who missed Akani Simbine’s brilliant win in the 100m race at the Gyulai István Memorial in Budapest yesterday, the South African athlete has uploaded a video of the race. (Watch below.) Writing on Facebook, Simbine said: “Unfortunately, my races were not televised. Here is a video of the 100m race from yesterday. Thank you for […]

South African golfer Ernie Els set aside protocol during the British Open on Thursday to show true sportsmanship and allow his longtime rival, Phil Mickelson from the USA, the best possible chance to make history. They were on the 18th green at Royal Troon in Scotland, and Mickelson – who already had eight birdies – had […]

Surfing in the same spot where he had a close encounter with a shark last year, Australian surfer Mick Fanning (35) won the J-Bay Open today in an emotional victory at Jeffreys Bay, South Africa… and this time he was joined by dolphins. The three time World Surf League (WSL) champion returned to the site of […]

As brilliant South African swimmer Chad le Clos prepares for the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil – and the moment he will go head to head with Michael Phelps again – he has revealed what his focus on the #RoadToRio is in a very moving documentary – “Unbelievable”. (See Trailer below.) While his race against […]

Legendary South African golfer Gary Player has expressed disappointment in the high-profile golfers who have withdrawn from the Olympics next month in Brazil, which will mark golf’s historic return to the Games after 112 years. Speaking to the Golf Channel (see video below) the three-time Open champion – who is South Africa’s team captain – said he is […]