With the Olympics bursting into life this past weekend we relive some of South Africa’s most cherished moments in the modern Olympics.

Reggie Walker, London, 1908

We may still have been under the Union flag at the time, but Reggie Walker was a South African just the same. The sprinter from Natal almost didn’t even make it to London to compete because he could not pay for the trip, and even when he was bankrolled by a local sportswriter, nobody expected much from him in the 100 metres. Several of the big names failed to even qualify for the final, but Walker did. In the final he competed against three North Americans, including James Rector of the United States, who had equalled the Olympic Record in both of the qualifier rounds. Walker beat Rector in the final by about a foot and half to claim the gold medal. Walker is still the youngest winner of the Olympic 100m, at 19 years and 128 days.

Stockholm Games, 1912

The 1912 Games was remembered for many reasons — including, sadly the death of a competitor — but for South Africa is was all about the gold. Stockholm was the site of SA’s most gold medals in the history of their participation in the Games. Kenneth McArthur ( Men's Marathon), Rudolph Lewis (Cycling, Men's Individual Time Trial), Harold Kitson and Charles Winslow (Tennis, Men's doubles outdoor) and Winslow (Tennis, Men's singles outdoor) all walked away with the Olympics’ greatest prize.

Bevil Rudd, Antwerp, 1920:

Bevil Gordon D'Urban Rudd is still one of SA’s most successful Olympians after winning a medal of every colour (gold, silver and bronze) at the 1912 Games in Antwerp. In the 400 m, he won the gold medal, in a clear victory over Britain's Guy Butler. He added a silver medal in the 4x400m relay and then finished third in the 800m. In addition to his Olympic successes, Rudd became the British champion over 440 yd (402 m) and 880 yd (805 m), and was named best athlete of the year in Great Britain. In 1921, he broke the 440 yd (402 m) World Record.

Barcelona Games, 1992:

It may not have been very successful as far as results were concerned — we only picked up two silver medals (Elana Meyer in the 10000m and Wayne Ferreira and Piet Norval in the tennis doubles) — but 1992 marked our first time back at the Olympic Games since SA was banned in 1960. Really, we could have sent just one athlete and not qualified for a single final, but watching our team mixing it up with the rest of the world in the world’s biggest sporting event was more than enough. The medals were a bonus…

Penny Heyns, Atlanta, 1996:

Four years on and South Africa’s athletes put on a far more impressive performance in Atlanta, but none more so than swimmer Penny Heyns. The Gauteng swimmer, who was competing in her second Olympics, became the first women in history to win gold in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke (she is still the only women to have achieved this), while at the same time becoming the first SA athlete to win a gold medal post-apartheid. Heyns broke both world records in the process and ensured her place in South African sporting history.

Hezekiel Sepeng, Atlanta, 1996:

While Heyns was making history in the pool, another South African athlete, Hezekiel Sepeng, was shining on the Atlanta track. Sepeng was coming off some good form, winning gold in the 800m at the World Championships in Rome, but his greatest achievement came at the Games when he won silver in the event. In the process he became the first South African man to win track & field Olympic Medal since 1928. That he was a black man in post-apartheid SA would not go un-noticed either.

Josia Thugwane, Atlanta, 1996:

Hot on the heels of Sepeng’s success, marathon runner Josia Thugwane went one better. Thugwane’s breakthrough in running had come a year earlier after he won the Honolulu Marathon, and in Atlanta, he tasted his greatest ever success. Thugwane initiated a breakaway at the 35km mark and he, along with Lee Bong-Ju from South Korea and Erick Wainaina from Kenya, stayed together until entering the stadium. Thugwane got a slight lead going into the stadium and finally finished 3 seconds ahead of Lee for the closest Olympic marathon finish ever.

Terence Parkin, Sydney, 2000:

Winning silver at the Olympics is no mean feat, but doing it without the ability to hear is something else entirely — deaf swimmer Terrence Parkin overcame all the odds to finish second in the 200m breaststroke in Sydney. Obviously the start of the race was a problem as he could not hear the start tone. Parkin once used hearing aids when competing, but all the crowd noise disturbed him and made him nervous. He found it hard to "focus." But the swimmer found a way around this with coach Graham Hill using a strobe light to signal the start. Parkin was well aware that he was racing for more than just his country at the time and after the race claimed: "I think it will confirm that deaf people can do things."

Hestrie Cloete, Sydney, 2000:

2000 was not the best year for the South African team, but for a small-town girl by the name of Hestrie Cloete Sydney was her stage to announce her abilities as a world-class high-jumper. She was already the All African champion, but it was in Sydney that she truly announced herself with a silver medal in the event with a jump of 2.01 metres. Cloete repeated the feat four years later at the Athens Games, although many expected her to bring home the gold medal at the time…

Men’s 4 x 100m freestyle team, Athens, 2004:

The Athens Olympics was the stage for what was arguably South Africa’s greatest Olympic achievement. There are certain events that stand above others at the Games — the premier events, if you will. The men’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay is undeniably one of those events. When South Africa (Roland Schoeman, Ryk Neethling, Lyndon Ferns and Darian Townsend) qualified for the finals they found themselves up against the sport’s powerhouses in defending champions Australia and the USA. Few SA fans expected the foursome to win it, but when they were leading going into the final stretch all began to hope… Neethling, who was swimming the final leg, did not disappoint — powering home to help the team finish first and in a world record time to boot. Wild celebrations ensued. The Aussies? Well, they didn’t even make the podium.

AFP