Tatjana Smith was all smiles despite finishing second in her semifinal of the 200m breaststroke at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday night, beaten to the finish by American Kate Douglass, who hold the potential for a real threat in Thursday’s final, finishing first in a time of 2:19.74 with Smith second in 2:19.94.
The South African 100m breaststroke champion is half-way to becoming only the second woman in history after Penny Heyns to complete a 100-200m breaststroke double at one Olympics.
“It was amazing… I’m so happy with that time so it doesn’t really matter where I came! It was such a good race, I think that’s a part of what sport is, pushing each other. It really just brings out the best version of me, and I can only be happy.”
Paris 2024 Olympic Games 100m Breaststroke Champion, Tatjana Smith
Meanwhile, joining her in Thursday night’s final, as she did three years ago in Tokyo, is training partner Kaylene Corbett who also finished second in her semifinal in a time of 2:22.87.
“I was a little bit worried after this morning,” said Corbett afterwards. “I really am just happy that I could push through another set, another 200 breaststroke and I think it went really well tonight,
“This is the fastest I’ve been since Tokyo, so I’m very, very happy with that time, slowly but surely chipping away at what I want one day.”
SA Breaststroke Star, Kaylene Corbett
“There’s definitely still a lot of fuel in the tank for a longer career. It’s not necessarily fuel in the tank for tomorrow, but I’m just really happy that I get to share this moment [with Tatjana].”
“I think tomorrow is going to be a very interesting race. We have really incredible girls in the race and I think whoever gets it gets it on the day, so we’ll never know until tomorrow. Stay tuned, folks.”
Earlier in the day, officials deemed the water quality in the Seine River good enough for the women’s triathlon to go ahead as planned. Much has been made of the questionable quality of the river and the danger it posed to competitors after it failed several tests earlier in the week, with the men’s event eventually postponed by a day.
It proved to be a tough day for Vicky van der Merwe who was the only South African in the event. She finished in 46th place in the race which was won by Frenchwoman Cassandre Beaugrand with Switzerland’s Julie Derron taking the silver and Britain’s Beth Potter the bronze.
“I think the swim in particular today was very different to any other race we’ve done because of the current. It was a very tactical swim, so I think a lot of girls actually struggled,” explained Van der Merwe.
“At a stage I thought I was going to drown in the swim around a buoy. I was underwater for quite a long time, so just a tough swim which made it a tough race, but I’m really proud for keeping on and fighting till the end.”
Taking her training into account, Van der Merwe said she hoping to finish much higher in the field.
“I’m lucky to train with [Tokyo Olympic champion] Flora Duffy for about six months of the year when she’s in Stellenbosch… I’ve come an incredible way so I just wanted to execute to the level I’m at, which I feel like I didn’t do today, but that’s OK. We’ve got to stay positive.”
As for the water quality, Van der Merwe reckoned: “I think honestly we’ve swum in worse. It’s fine… we’ve definitely swum in worse somewhere in Africa.”
Photo: FIH
Elsewhere, Paige Badenhorst claimed victory in her single sculls C/D semifinal. That sees her safely through to the C final which will determine 13th to 18th place overall.
Meanwhile, the SA women’s hockey team produced another promising performance against Great Britain but once again let an early lead, thanks to a Kayla de Waal penalty corner goal, slip. They eventually went down 2-1 to the 2016 Olympic champions.
“I think England came really hard at us. I think both teams really needed a win and they just fought harder, especially in the second quarter,” said SA goalkeeper Anelle Lloyd.
Edith Molikoe added: “It was a tough game. We put in our all. It’s a game that we wanted to come out and play very hard and it’s unfortunate that we lost 2-1.
“We worked really, really hard in the first two quarters and then let it slip a little bit in the last two. But it’s very exciting to see the way we’re playing and coming out in this tournament and I’m excited to see what happens in the next two games because we all want a result,” she added.
“I know for sure that we want to win the next two games so we’re eager and excited and hopefully we can execute that.”
Team South Africa’s Women’s Contingent and Paris 2024 Broadcast Updates
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Saturday, 27 July, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Sunday, 28 July, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Monday, 29 July, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Tuesday, 30 July, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Wednesday, 31 July, 2024
Triathlon
Vicky van der Merwe finished in 46th place in the race which was won by Frenchwoman Cassandre Beaugrand with Switzerland’s Julie Derron taking the silver and Britain’s Beth Potter the bronze
Hockey
Women’s Pool B: South Africa 1-2 Great Britain
Swimming
200m Breast Stroke Semi-Finals – Tatjana Smith qualifies second in Heat 1 and Kaylene Corbett also qualifies in Heat 1 for the Thursday evening final
Surfing
19:00: Round 3 Knockout Postponed – Sarah Baum vs Carissa Moore
Schedule of Events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Thursday, 1 August, 2024
Rowing
9:30AM: Single Skulls semi-finals C/D 2 – Paige Badenhorst ( I know she is in C Final and that is on Saturday)
Hockey
17:30PM: Spain v South Africa
Cycling
20:20PM: BMX Heat 2 – Miyanda Maseti
Swimming
21:11PM: 200m Breast Stroke Final – Tatjana Smith, Kaylene Corbett (TBC)
Surfing
21:24PM: Sarah Baum TBC
Cycling
22:15PM: BMX Last Chance Race – Miyanda Maseti (TBC)
Original Copy: Karien Jonckheere, with editing by gsport
Main Photo Caption: 2016 Olympic Champions Team GB dealt the SA Hockey team a third consecutive loss in a tough encounter after the South Africans once again scored the first goal, in France on Wednesday, 31 July, 2024. Photo: Roger Sedres / Team SA
Photo 2 Caption: Tatjana Smith on the way to her second-placed finish to qualify for the 200m Breaststroke Final. Photo: Anton Geyser / Team SA
Photo 3 Caption: Smith’s Tokyo Olympic partner Kaylene Corbett also qualified for the final, swimming in the firs heat. Photo: Anton Geyser / Team SA
Photo 4 Caption: Vicky van der Merwe finished in 46th place in Wednesday’s Triathlon final. Photo: Anton Geyser / Team SA
Photo 5 Caption: Van der Merwe struggled in Wednesday’s race: “At a stage I thought I was going to drown in the swim around a buoy.” Photo: Anton Geyser / Team SA
Photo 6 Caption: The despair was evident as the SA Hockey Women fell to a third narrow loss, 2-1 to Great Britain. Photo: FIH
Photo 7 Caption: A celebration as South Africa celebrate Kayla de Waal’s third goal to score first against Great Britain on Wednesday. Photo: Anton Geyser / Team SA
