Kyle Blignaut shotput Tokyo Olympics gold

Photo by Roger Sedres / Gallo Images

This is Kyle Blignaut – and he is one of SA’s last hopes for Olympic Gold!

Kyle Blignaut, or ‘The Juggernaut’ as we call him, will go for gold in an Olympic final on Thursday morning – and we’re all right behind him.

Kyle Blignaut shotput Tokyo Olympics gold

Photo by Roger Sedres / Gallo Images

If you’re going to choose a pair of shoulders to rest weighty expectations upon, look no further than Kyle Blignaut. The man-mountain from Pretoria has emerged as a candidate for Team SA’s unlikely hero, after he hurled his way into the shotput final of the Tokyo Olympics. The athlete now has a serious chance of coming home with a medal.

Who is Kyle Blignaut?

While bagging a gold isn’t out of the question, the affectionately named ‘gentle giant’ would be overjoyed with any medal that comes his way. After winning a string of domestic competitions, Blignaut booked his spot in Japan back in May, when he threw a personal best of 21.21 metres – and a repeat performance in the final could see him make history.

Indeed, the effort that secured his Olympic berth was the ‘third-best effort’ by any South African, ever. Janus Roberts (21.97m) and Orazio Cremona (21.51m) were the only two local athletes to have ever bested the young Pretorian.

Kyle Blignaut: When is the shotput final at the Tokyo Olympics?

On Tuesday, Kyle Blignaut finished fifth in his shotput semi-final, recording a mammoth throw of 20.97m. If he can find an extra 5% from somewhere, a gold medal is a distinct possibility. The 21-year-old will face off against 11 other athletes on Thursday morning, with his event getting underway at 4:05 SAST.

It’s fair to say the lad puts everything – and more – into his gargantuan throws:

  • You can catch the event live on SuperSport – and it may be one of our last possible chances to secure a top prize.

Tokyo Olympics: South Africa 37th in medal table

Wayde van Niekerk crashed out in the 400m semi-finals on Tuesday, and there were disappointing results for Gift Leotlela and Shaun Maswanganyi on the track. Akani Simbini came agonisingly close to bronze over the weekend, but finished 4th in the 100m sprint. There are, however, some embers of hope still flickering for South Africa.

As well as Kyle Blignaut, several other Olympians find themselves with a chance of glory: The men’s relay team will be racing for gold on Friday, with marathon champion Gerda Steyn also gunning for first in the longest race of them all.

Only Tatjana Schoenmaker has claimed gold for Team SA at the Tokyo Olympics. In fact, she accounts for two of our three medals won so far. The swimmer claimed a silver last week – as did surfer Bianca Buitendag.