Tatjana Smith (nee Schoenmaker) won Team South Africa's first gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Monday night, coming from behind to win the women's 100m breaststroke final.
Tatjana Smith won Team South Africa’s first gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Monday night, coming from behind to win the women’s 100m breaststroke final.Smith, who won the silver medal in this race at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, had to catch up after China’s Tang Qianting flew out of the blocks.
Qianting ran the first 50m in 29.94 seconds, while Smith took 30.62 seconds to turn. Mona McSharry of Ireland was also flying in lane two and appeared to have stolen the race when she finished strongly. Smith, the 200m breaststroke gold medallist from Tokyo, powered her way up the field and finished the race near-perfectly. She touched the wall ahead of second-placed Qianting, who appeared to be running out of puff near the end of the race. McSharry eventually finished third.
Smith’s time of 1:05.28 was slower than her heat time, but she will not be concerned because she won the gold medal. Smith now has the opportunity to compete for another medal in the 200m breaststroke, an event that put her on the Olympic map after Tokyo.Meanwhile, in the men’s 100m backstroke final, Pieter Coetze of South Africa finished fifth in 52.58 seconds after a closely contested race.
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