History
South Africa made its first Summer Olympic appearance in 1904 and competed until the 1960 Olympics where afterwards the nation was banned from competing due to apartheid. After apartheid ended the nation returned to the Olympics in 1992 and has competed ever since. The nation sends a large delegation with over 100 athletes competing at each Olympics since 2000. The athletes compete in a variety of sports including, athletics, boxing, canoeing, cycling, rowing, sailing and swimming.
South Africa won its first medal in 1908 and has won at least one medal in all subsequent games it has competed in. In total, the nation has won 86 medals across 10 sports. The most successful sports include athletics (29), boxing (19) and swimming (18). The most successful athlete is swimmer Chad le Clos where in the men’s 100m butterfly he won two silver (2012, 2016) medals and in the 200m butterfly he won one gold (2012) and one silver (2016) medal. In 2016 South Africa won 10 medals, a tie for its best ever medal count.
Qualified Quotas
Athletics
Men’s Events
| Event |
Qualifying Athletes |
Selected Athletes |
| Men’s 100m |
Akani Simbine |
|
| Men’s 20km Walk |
Wayne Snyman |
|
| Men’s Marathon |
Stephen Mokoka |
|
| Desmond Mokgobu |
|
Women’s Events
| Event |
Qualifying Athletes |
Selected Athletes |
| Women’s 800m |
Caster Semenya |
|
Cycling
Swimming
Men’s Events
| Event |
Qualifying Athletes |
Selected Athletes |
| Men’s 50m Freestyle |
Bradley Tandy |
|
| Men’s 200m Backstroke |
Christopher Reid |
|
| Men’s 100m Butterfly |
Chad le Clos |
|
| Ryan Coetzee |
|
| Men’s 200m Butterfly |
Chad le Clos |
|
Women’s Events
| Event |
Qualifying Athletes |
Selected Athletes |
| Women’s 100m Freestyle |
Erin Gallagher |
|
| Women’s 100m Breaststroke |
Tatjana Schoenmaker |
|
| Women’s 200m Breaststroke |
Tatjana Schoenmaker |
|