The Olympics are here!
By Ronnie the Average Sports Guy.
My DSTv subscription is paying dividends now as there are 8 dedicated channels and countless news and highlights packages. There are unfortunately not enough hours in the day for everything I want to say about the Olympics, but I cover South Africa’s medals at the Rugby Sevens, Swimming, and MTB Cross Country, and look at Football, Surfing, Skateboarding, and Hockey.
Olympics – rugby sevens
Sevens was the first event that kicked off at the Olympics in front of a packed Stade de France of 69 000 fans, the largest ever crowd for a sevens event. France reached their first ever men’s Olympic Sevens final, and they faced 2-time champions Fiji, who had NEVER lost an Olympic Sevens match before (16 out of 16 wins). The crowd was electric and had the feel of a World Cup final, not that the French would know how that feels.
Dupont was subbed on after half time and made an immediate impact to set up model and DJ, Aaron Grandidier Nkanang. Dupont then scored from a quick tap to all but seal the win, and then put the cherry on the cake with another try from a driving lineout maul. Is there anything this man can’t do?
Olympics – football
Drama on the opening day of the football competition, which in the Olympics is made up of U/23 players with three older players allowed in the squad.
Morocco in Group B. Morocco stunned the 2-time gold medallists to lead 2-0 following a brace from Soufiane Rahimi. Giovanni Simeone, son of former Argentina star Diego, came off the bench to pull one back for Argentina midway through the second half, and after a ridiculous 16 minutes of added time at the end of the match, Cristian Medina scored to salvage a draw. But as their players celebrated, projectiles including bottles and plastic cups rained down from the stands and several spectators entered the pitch, forcing the referee to blow the whistle for players to leave as a firecracker was also thrown at the Argentinian bench. After 2 hours, the players re-entered the pitch to finish the match in an empty stadium, Medina’s goal was disallowed for offside following a VAR review, and Morocco held on to claim all 3 points.
Olympics – surfing
In case you were wondering why the surfers were featured standing on their own on a beach during the opening ceremony, it is because the competition is being held in Teahupoʻo, a village on the southeastern coast of the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean, 16 000km away from Paris.
Only 48 men and women surfers are taking part, and therefore the athletes get to enjoy a floating athlete’s village in the form of a cruise ship, complete with ping pong and foosball tables, water slides, four bars, two lounges, an outdoor swimming pool, fitness centre, massage room, and luxury suites with double (non-cardboard) beds.
South Africa are being represented by 2024 SA Open of Surfing winner Sarah Baum, Matthew McGillivray (who scored a 10-point ride with an inverted airdrop trick at the 2022 Tahiti Pro), and 6-time WSL Championship Tour winner Jordy Smith.
Olympics – hockey
The pool stages of the hockey started on Saturday at the Yves du Manoir Stadium in Montpellier, which was the main stadium for the 1924 Olympics which hosted athletics, some of the cycling, some of the horse riding, gymnastics, tennis, some of the football, rugby, and two of the modern pentathlon events (running, fencing), as well as the 1938 FIFA World Cup final. The men’s team had never finished better than 10th in the Olympics and were hoping for a better outing this time when they started their campaign against the world No. 1 Netherlands.
The Dutch led 4-1 at half time, which became 5-1 shortly after the break, but South Africa responded with a brilliant goal from Tevin Kok and a penalty stroke from Matt Guise-Brown to reduce the deficit to 5-3. SA could not capitalise on the many opportunities created, including 6 short corners which could not be converted, to suffer their first defeat.
The SA women started their Pool B campaign against Australia’s Hockeyroos on Sunday. An early 14th minute goal from Kayla de Waal was immediately quashed by Australia as they struck back after 2 minutes, and then took the lead in the 40th minute to start Australia’s competition off with a win. It was a similar situation in South Africa’s next match against Argentina on Monday when they let a 2-1 half time lead slip to go down 4-2.
They next play GB (Wednesday), Spain (Thursday), and the USA (Saturday). Bet Now
Olympics – mtb cross country
France’s Pauline Ferrand Prevot produced a dominant performance in the Women’s Cross-Country race on Sunday to win by almost 3 minutes over Haley Batten from the USA.
36 men took off in a mass start for 8 laps of the 4.4km track which includes 110m elevation gain per lap with sharp, switch backing singletrack and adrenaline-fueled descents, with several technical features like rock gardens and jumps which make you flinch to see how fast these riders attack the obstacles.
After a frantic start, Hatherly took the lead over Schurter and Mathias Flückinger with Pidcock (I promise both are real names for those who don’t follow cycling) also in the leading group.
The 3 battled it out on the final lap for the medals. An audacious move by Pidcock on the final lap to overtake Koretzky on an inside line caused the 2 to make contact, unsettling Koretzky and giving Pidcock the gap he needed to power on and defend his gold medal from Tokyo, much to the dismay of the French crowd at the finish line. Hatherly held on to cross the line 9 seconds after Koretzky to claim South Africa’s 1st ever MTB medal and the 2nd of the Olympics.
Olympics – skateboarding
Skateboarding made its debut at the Tokyo Olympics, which meant that old people are not allowed to shout at youths on their skateboards anymore, because now it is a legitimate (Olympic) sport.
In the Run section, there were 8 scores of 85/100 or more, and in the Trick section there were a staggering 15 tricks of 90/100 or more. In the end, Yoto Horigome (Japan) defended his Tokyo gold medal, while Jagger Eaton (USA) did one better than in Tokyo to claim silver, with fellow American Huston Nyjah claiming bronze. The women’s Park event is next week Tuesday, with the men’s event taking place on Wednesday. Bet Now
Olympics – swimming
Gold in the pool for Tatjana Smith! Silver medallist in the 100m breaststroke in Tokyo, Smith posted the fastest time in the semi finals with 55.00, and in the final she was up against world record holder Lily King (USA) and Tang Qianting (China), the current 50m and 100m world champion. Qianting used her 50m speed to lead at halfway and was still leading with 5m to go when Smith put in an almighty effort to win by 0.26 seconds over Qianting and Mona MacSharry from Ireland. An incredible effort from Tatjana, who I’m sure will now be pestered by her new brother-in-law, the unknown Siya Kolisi, to share in her fame.
Interestingly, there have been no world records at this year’s event (which has already passed the halfway mark), while there were 8 set in Rio and 6 in Tokyo. \
Look out for Matthew Sates in the Men’s 200m Butterfly on Tuesday, while Smith and Kaylene Corbett are in the 200m Breaststroke heats on Wednesday morning followed by Coetze in the 200m Backstroke heats. Sates is also doing the 200m Individual Medley on Thursday and will line up alongside legend Chad le Clos in the 100m Butterfly on Friday, followed by Rebecca Mulder in the 200m IM.
Performance of the week
Another World Cup win for South Africa, who beat Australia 29-28 in the Polocrosse World Cup Final held at the Durban Shongweni Club on Sunday.
Blunder of the week
After winning the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, Mercedes’ George Russell was disqualified after race officials discovered the Mercedes was underweight after the race. Runner up Lewis Hamilton, his teammate, was named the winner.
As you can see, there is more sport than most people can keep track of. Playas bring your bets, the sport will take care of the rest. Bet Now
