SOUTH Africa's unheralded lightweight fours rowers powered their way to an incredible Olympic gold medal, ensuring the nation would match their most successful Games performance of the post-isolation era.
Three gold medals in total in Atlanta 1996; just six days into London 2012 and SA have three golds. One more gold and SA will have equalled their all-time record of four at one Games, from Stockholm 1912.
Yesterday Sizwe Ndlovu, John Smith, Matt Brittain and James Thompson emulated the fightback gold of Chad le Clos two days earlier when the young swimmer pipped Michael Phelps to the wall.
Brittain said after their stunning victory: "We watched Chad racing and he was a little bit behind and he just came back and we said to ourselves 'no, that's how we're going to do this thing'. We had to put ourselves in the mix in the first half."
South Africa were fourth with just 500m of the 2000m race to go, and that's when they stepped on the gas, overhauling the crews from Britain, Denmark and Australia.
"We just started shouting: 'gold!' in the last 250m. Like we said the whole season, whenever one of us says 'we've only got one goal', the others have to shout 'gold'," said Brittain.
It was a brutal finish with the South Africans winning by only a quarter of a second. SA clocked 6min:02.84sec, ahead of Britain (06:03.09) and Denmark (06.03.16).
This was SA's second rowing medal in Olympic history, after the bronze won in the men's pairs in 2004, when Don Cech crawled into the jetty and vomited from his effort.
- SA swimming sensation Chad le Clos won the 100m butterfly semifinal in 51,42 seconds to reach today's final.
- Roland Shoeman also qualified for the final of the 50m free-style when he squeezed in in the seventh position.
- Suzaan van Biljon faded in the second half of the women's 200m breaststroke final to finish in seventh position.
SA rowers blow rival fours out of the water
SOUTH Africa's unheralded lightweight fours rowers powered their way to an incredible Olympic gold medal, ensuring the nation would match their most successful Games performance of the post-isolation era.
Three gold medals in total in Atlanta 1996; just six days into London 2012 and SA have three golds. One more gold and SA will have equalled their all-time record of four at one Games, from Stockholm 1912.
Yesterday Sizwe Ndlovu, John Smith, Matt Brittain and James Thompson emulated the fightback gold of Chad le Clos two days earlier when the young swimmer pipped Michael Phelps to the wall.
Brittain said after their stunning victory: "We watched Chad racing and he was a little bit behind and he just came back and we said to ourselves 'no, that's how we're going to do this thing'. We had to put ourselves in the mix in the first half."
South Africa were fourth with just 500m of the 2000m race to go, and that's when they stepped on the gas, overhauling the crews from Britain, Denmark and Australia.
"We just started shouting: 'gold!' in the last 250m. Like we said the whole season, whenever one of us says 'we've only got one goal', the others have to shout 'gold'," said Brittain.
It was a brutal finish with the South Africans winning by only a quarter of a second. SA clocked 6min:02.84sec, ahead of Britain (06:03.09) and Denmark (06.03.16).
This was SA's second rowing medal in Olympic history, after the bronze won in the men's pairs in 2004, when Don Cech crawled into the jetty and vomited from his effort.
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