SPORTMATTERS • RACING • SOCCER • OLYMPICS 23, 27 • CRICKET • RUGBY SA DELIVER ON DREAMS TEAM DOES A NATION PROUD
AS THE 2016 Rio Olympics come to a close, it is time to reflect on what has been an incredible journey for Team South Africa. The ten medals that they will deliver to the rest of South Africa on Tuesday morning at OR Tambo International, were all the final pieces of personal odysseys that make the material achievement that much richer.
The common thread that runs through each victory has been the humility that each and every one of South Africa’s medals has been accepted with. They haven’t screamed and shouted, but they have knelt and prayed, and looked for loved ones who know just how long the road has been.
Every single one of South Africa’s medallists has shared their tales with the world, and every one of them ought to serve as fresh inspiration, not just to Team SA for 2020, but also to every South African. These stories, deeply personal, embody the struggles of being a modern South African, but also show that hard work and dedication can overcome even the unlikeliest circumstances.
The poster boy for the South African team, Wayde van Niekerk, wasn’t made flagbearer for no reason. He embodies the essence of a South African superstar; incredible performances followed by the most personable reactions.
Van Niekerk is being talked about as the next global headline act on the track, with the pending retirement of Usain Bolt from the Olympics. He has taken the possibility of such a responsibility in his remarkable stride, along with what will be an unprecedented commercial clamour for the privilege of being associated with a world-record holder.
For him, the most important thing is family, and he counts being able to take them to Rio as one of his great joys. He is not alone in looking back at where he came from, before he thinks of where he could go to from here.
Luvo Manyonga’s first thought was to buy his mother a house. It is the unspoken dream of so many kids who grow up in single-parent homes, but Manyonga’s greatest source of pride is that he will be able to give the ultimate thank you to the woman that has endured so much with him, for him.
Former Olympian Ryk Neethling called for Manyonga’s drugs to riches tale to be made into a movie, because to come back from that dark place and then find one’s place on the world’s biggest stage is incredible. Manyonga’s rehabilitation and rejuvenation was only supposed to bear fruit down the line, but he seized his moment, because he couldn’t wait any more.
Not waiting any more was also the theme for South Africa’s rowers. Lawrence Brittain battled through cancer, chemo and the debilitating state that the disease leaves one in, and his journey merits a screenplay in itself. What he and Shaun Keeling proved, in pushing a supposedly invincible Kiwi boat all the way to the line, is that any opponent can be reeled in and overcome. Even cancer.
Another rainbow warrior who had to overcome physical ailment was Henri Schoeman, the country’s first triathlon medallist. The chest infection that threatened to derail his dreams couldn’t hold him back, and it says everything about the camaraderie that this team shares that his immediate thought was for his teammate, Richard Murray, who finished fourth, but may well have stolen the show if it wasn’t for a compromised shoulder.
Seizing the moment was also what drove Sunette Viljoen, in an emotional javelin final. Four Olympics, and some very near misses may have broken some spirits, but Viljoen’s desire has been as unflinching as the arrow that she threw into South African hearts on Thursday night.
She has stood up for the rights of athletes, stood up for her sexuality – even having her family turn against her – and glowed in the pride of representing her country on the international stage.
She took her medal up to The Redeemer, to give thanks to the spiritual father of Rio, the Catholic capital of the world. Like many of South Africa’s other medallists, and indeed athletes, Viljoen has found the trip to Rio deeply moving, and fans have fallen in love with the green and gold.
That the Rugby Sevens side were apologetic after only getting a bronze medal, emphasised the ambition of a unit that coach Neil Powell drilled for months. There were grown man tears in their final huddle on the field, because they know that four years will shed a few, older players from the squad that wants redemption and gold in Tokyo.
That determination to bounce back was also evidenced in the manner that Chad le Clos picked himself up from the disappointment of one butterfly event, to sharing the podium with his hero, Michael Phelps. Le Clos, with two silver medals added to his collection, may yet be one of the stars of 2020, and he will be a bigger and better man for his experiences in Rio.
Cameron van der Burgh also showed his indomitable spirit, because breast-stroke is one of the toughest disciplines, and to follow up four years later shows incredible reserves of mental strength. The road to Rio was not easy for Van der Burgh, and he was up against swimming’s latest breakout star, Adam Peaty. That it took a world record to hold off the man who told the world “Ke Nako” in 2012, tells a story on its own.
Of course, the story that everyone wanted to see at the Rio 2016 Olympics was that of Caster Semenya. Her silence in front of the media has been a story in itself, as an intrusive press has tried to find something, anything, to take away from a victory that has played purely by the rules put out in front of her.
Team South Africa has embraced Semenya throughout the Games, enveloping her in a giant team hug, protecting her proudly. That is the South African way, and the South African story that has unravelled in Rio emphasises that through our differences, this country is even stronger.
Embrace them when they step off that plane on Tuesday. Give them a deeply, proudly South African squeeze, because they have let a nation dream again, and done it with a smile on their face.