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- Swimmer Chad le Clos is South Africa’s most-decorated Olympian
- Just three South Africans have two gold medals each
- 800m runner Caster Semenya is SA’s only black female medalist
South Africa’s most successful Olympic athletes are tennis player Charles Winslow, who won two gold medals in 1912 and a bronze four years later, and swimmer Penny Heyns, who also has a pair of gold medals and a bronze.
Team SA’s biggest gold haul was at London in 2012, when they won events in rowing, swimming and athletics.
The most medals won in a year is 10, which was achieved at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Only two of those were gold.
Apart from Winslow and Heyns, the only other South African to win two golds is 800m queen Caster Semenya, who is also South Africa’s only black female medalist. She won in 2012 and 2016.
Swimmer Chad le Clos is the country’s most-decorated Olympian, with a total of four medals, one of which is gold. Paris will be the 32-year-old’s fourth Games.
Two South Africans currently hold Olympic records: Tatjana (Schoenmaker) Smith for the 100m and 200m women’s breaststroke, and Wayde van Niekerk in the men’s 400m.
— 23 July, 2024Subscribe to the weekly newsletter for more charts like this
