YESTERDAY marked 200 days until the start of the world's biggest multi-code sporting spectacle, the 2012 Olympic Games, in London.
The opening ceremony will take place on July 27 and the Games will run for two weeks before ending on August 12.
"The Olympic year of 2012 has finally dawned on us," said South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee chief executive Tubby Reddy.
"We have spent many hours investing in our sports stars and hopefully we will reap some of those rewards in London. Many of the codes are busy with their final qualifying preparations right now."
National women's soccer side Banyana Banyana, as well as two rowing combinations (a men's fours and women's pairs) have already qualified for the Games. South Africa also has a K1 canoeing slot.
The South African team returned from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games with one medal - Khotso Mokoena's silver in the long jump - the worst showing since Charles Catterall earned a lone silver medal in the men's featherweight boxing division at the Berlin Games in 1936.
Sascoc president Gideon Sam subsequently set out an ambitious plan for South Africa to win 12 medals in 2012.
The race now heats up as the various disciplines attempt to make the qualifying standards.
A total of 26 sports across the alphabetic spectrum, from archery to wrestling and broken down into a total of 39 disciplines, will be contested during the 2012 Olympic Games.
The final date for Games qualification is May 31, but various codes have other qualification cut-offs.
200 days to go to Olympics... game on
YESTERDAY marked 200 days until the start of the world's biggest multi-code sporting spectacle, the 2012 Olympic Games, in London.
The opening ceremony will take place on July 27 and the Games will run for two weeks before ending on August 12.
"The Olympic year of 2012 has finally dawned on us," said South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee chief executive Tubby Reddy.
"We have spent many hours investing in our sports stars and hopefully we will reap some of those rewards in London. Many of the codes are busy with their final qualifying preparations right now."
National women's soccer side Banyana Banyana, as well as two rowing combinations (a men's fours and women's pairs) have already qualified for the Games. South Africa also has a K1 canoeing slot.
The South African team returned from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games with one medal - Khotso Mokoena's silver in the long jump - the worst showing since Charles Catterall earned a lone silver medal in the men's featherweight boxing division at the Berlin Games in 1936.
Sascoc president Gideon Sam subsequently set out an ambitious plan for South Africa to win 12 medals in 2012.
The race now heats up as the various disciplines attempt to make the qualifying standards.
A total of 26 sports across the alphabetic spectrum, from archery to wrestling and broken down into a total of 39 disciplines, will be contested during the 2012 Olympic Games.
The final date for Games qualification is May 31, but various codes have other qualification cut-offs.
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