South Africa at the 2016 Summer Olympics
| South Africa at the 2016 Summer Olympics |
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| IOC code | RSA | ||||||||
| NOC | South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee | ||||||||
| Website | www |
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| in Rio de Janeiro | |||||||||
| Competitors | 138 in 15 sports | ||||||||
| Flag bearer |
Wayde van Niekerk (opening) Caster Semenya (closing) |
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Medals Ranked 30th |
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| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |||||||||
South Africa competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's seventh consecutive appearance at the Games in the post-apartheid era, and nineteenth overall in Summer Olympic history. The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) sent the nation's largest ever delegation to the Olympics, with a total of 138 athletes, 93 men and 45 women, competing across 15 sports.
South Africa left Rio de Janeiro with a total of 10 medals (2 gold, 6 silver, and 2 bronze), marking the nation's most successful Olympics since its readmission in 1992. Moreover, it attained the potential medal target set by SASCOC for the Games. Four of these medals were awarded to the track and field athletes, including two golds won respectively by runners Caster Semenya and Wayde van Niekerk, who broke the 16-year-old world record in the men's 400 metres. South Africa also proved particularly successful in team sports, as the rugby sevens squad, popularly known by locals as Blitzboks, scored a historic bronze over Japan in the men's tournament.
Among the medalists were Luvo Manyonga, who overcame drug addiction to achieve a runner-up finish in the men's long jump, cancer survivor Lawrence Brittain, who picked up a silver alongside his veteran partner Shaun Keeling in the men's rowing pair, and Henri Schoeman, who surprised the field by securing South Africa's first ever triathlon medal with a bronze in the men's race. Swimmers Cameron van der Burgh and Chad le Clos contributed three of the country's silver medals in the pool, with le Clos emerging as South Africa's most decorated Olympian of all-time at four medals (one gold and three silver) over two Games. Meanwhile, Sunette Viljoen rebounded from a disappointed 2012 feat to ascend the Olympic podium at her fourth Games, earning a silver in the women's javelin throw.
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