South Africa at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
| South Africa at the 2012 Summer Paralympics |
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| IPC code | RSA | ||||||||
| NPC | South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee | ||||||||
| Website | www |
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| in London | |||||||||
| Competitors | 62 in 7 sports | ||||||||
| Flag bearer | Oscar Pistorius | ||||||||
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Medals Ranked 17th |
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| Officials | 45 | ||||||||
| Summer Paralympics appearances | |||||||||
South Africa competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London with a team of 62 athletes.
The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), which is the National Paralympic Committee of South Africa, announced a team of 62 competitors for the 2012 Paralympics on 20 June 2012. The team of 45 men and 17 women were accompanied by 45 managers, coaches and other support staff.SASCOC released the team's schedule on 17 August 2012.
In a surprise announcement in London on 8 September the South African Minister of Sport and Recreation Fikile Mbalula said that Paralympic medal winners and their coaches would receive the same performance bonuses that their Olympic counterparts were promised. The amounts initially promised were significantly lower. The minister said the original plan was discriminatory.
The following South African competitors won medals at the games.
South African track and field athletes won a combined 17 medals at the Games, four gold, seven silver and six bronze. Sprinter Oscar Pistorius, who carried the nation's flag at the opening ceremony, was the most successful South African athlete winning individual gold in the T44 400 metres, gold in the 4 × 100 metres relay T42-46, setting world records in both, and individual silver in the T44 200 metres. In the 200 metres event Pistorius set a new world record in his heat, but he was defeated in the final by Brazilian Alan Oliveira. After the race Pistorius raised an issue about the length of Oliveira's blades, he later apologised for the timing of his remarks, but not the content of his complaint. The IPC confirmed the length of Oliveira’s blades were proportional to his body and legal, but expressed willingness to engage with Pistorius about the issue.
A team of four represented South Africa in the equestrian competition, one man and three women, although Paralympic equestrian competition is not divided by gender. The competition consists of three dressage events, a championship test, a freestyle test and a team test. There are five competitor classes: Ia, Ib, II, III and IV, with Ia being the most and IV the least impaired.
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