LIVE WRAP | Tokyo Olympics Day 4: Every Team SA athlete in action – 27 July 2021

It was silver for Tatjana Schoenmaker in the women’s 100m breaststroke and also silver for Bianca Buidendag in the women’s surfing.

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The men’s rugby Sevens lost in the quarter-finals to Argentina in an upset.

The men’s hockey side were beaten by Belgium 9-4, but fronted up well. 

Simone Ackerman finished 17th in the women’s triathlon, while Candice Lill was 24th in the women’s mountain biking.

Below, a breakdown of all Team SA’s representatives in action at Tokyo 2020 on Tuesday, 27 July.

CYCLING
Women’s Mountain Bike, cross-country: Candice Lill lined up with 37 others riders for the women’s cross-country event over 24.4km. This is the second Olympics for the 29-year-old Capetonian who competed at London 2012. It proved to be a clean sweep for Switzerland who took the gold, silver and bronze. Lill finished 24th in 1:26.20 which was 10:34 behind gold medallist Jolanda Neff.

HOCKEY

Men’s Pool B, South Africa 4 Belgium 9: No one was under any illusions when South Africa saw their group at these Olympics. They’re up against Great Britain, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Canada. With three matches completed so far, South Africa have lost 3-1 to Great Britain, 5-3 to the Netherlands and now 9-4 to the best side in the world, Belgium. It was a spirited performance by the South Africans.

RUGBY SEVENS
Men’s Pool C, South Africa 17 USA 12: South Africa made it a clean sweep of wins in their group when they beat the USA 17-12 on Tuesday, having beaten Ireland and Kenya the day before.

Men’s quarter-finals. South Africa 14 Argentina 19: Oh dear. South Africa lost in a major upset, especially given that Argentina were down to six players halfway through the first half. South Africa had gone 7-0 up via a Selvyn Davids try after just 67 seconds and Argentina received a red card after 2:28. Against six players for 12 and a half minutes Argentina outscored SA 19-7.

SAILING

Men’s Skiff, 49er: Team manager Asenathi Jim on Benji Daniel and Alex Burger. “It was a long day in the water today waiting for the wind to be stable, a really good fight back into 13th, battling it out with defending champions New Zealand. We managed to sail one race, which means there will be no day off for us on Wednesday.”

SWIMMING
Women’s 100m breaststroke, final: SILVER! Tatjana Schoenmaker won the silver medal in 1:05.22, with the gold medal going to 17-year-old American Lydia Jacoby. Schoenmaker, who had been the fastest qualifier and lowered the Olympic record to 1:04.82 in the heats, led at halfway. She touched the wall in 1:05.22, with the American finishing strongly to win gold in 1:04.95.

Men’s butterfly, semi-final: Chad le Clos, the 2012 Olympic champion, had suffered a scare in the heats, taking the last qualifying spot for the semi-finals. He competed in the first of the two semi-finals, from lane eight, and made sure of reaching the final with a start-to-finish win in 1:55.06. It was a dominant performance from the South African, who admitted to not getting it right in the heats, but he made amends in the semi-finals. He qualified third fastest overall.

SURFING
Women’s competition: Bianca Buitendag had claimed the scalp of Stephanie Gilmore from Australia in Monday’s third round and, here at Tsurigasaki Beach, she beat the 23-year-old Portuguese Yolanda Hopkins for a place in the semi-finals. In the semis, she saw off Caroline Marks of the USA, 11.00 to 3.67.

Women’s final: Bianca Buitendag vs Carissa Moore: SILVER! South Africa’s No 17 seed had eliminated Australian seven-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore, No 2 seed Caroline Marks and four-time world champion before going down 14.93 to 8.46 to No 1 seed Carissa Moore, who took the sport’s first gold medal in Olympic history.

TRIATHLON
Women’s Individual, final: A big field of 56 entered, but only 33 finished. While Bermuda’s Flora Duffy, the pre-race favourite, won the race in conditions made difficult due to overnight rain, Simone Ackerman fared best of the two Team SA athletes. She finished in 17th position, 5:38 off the winner. Gill Sanders recorded a DNF after being lapped and not making the transition zone in time.

WATERPOLO
Men’s Group A, South Africa 3 USA 20: In South Africa’s opening game they went down 21-2 to world No 7 Italy and here, in what is their first Olympics since 1960, the South Africans competed well against the world No 9. South Africa trailed 0-3 after the first quarter, then 1-12 after the second, then 2-15 in a productive third quarter, and 3-20 at the end.