Afrigather Tatjana Smith swam into Olympic historical past on the Paris La Protection Enviornment on Thursday night time when she fought heroically to take the silver medal within the 200m breaststroke.
It was a silver medal value its weight in gold.
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Smith, the unassuming famous person from South Africa, who at all times mentioned, “I didn’t select to be well-known”, was overwhelmed to the wall by 0.36 seconds by American Kate Douglass, who struck the entrance after the primary 50m and by no means seemed again.
Smith’s good friend, coaching associate and Staff SA star in her personal proper, Kaylene Corbett, completed seventh and he or she’s performed an unlimited position within the 27-year-old’s success.
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It was Smith’s second medal of the 2024 Paris Video games, after taking the 100m gold, and a flip reversal of what she produced at her first Olympics in Tokyo on that event, taking silver within the 100m and gold within the longer, extra favoured 200m.
Tatjana Smith South Africa’s greatest-ever Olympian
In elevating herself to greatest-ever South African Olympian standing, she joined Chad le Clos on 4 medals, however outweighs him by advantage of her two golds and two silvers.
Whereas Penny Heyns, in 1996, stays the final ladies’s breaststroker to do the double, Smith tied with Japan’s Kosuke Katajima as the one four-time breaststroke medallists in Olympic historical past, each women and men.
In profitable the 100m the 27-year-old had come from fourth on the flip to provide the defining contact on the wall. Years of blood, sweat and tears got here right down to that very second – and he or she executed it to perfection.
Within the 200m she had taken to the block as second quickest qualifier after Douglas had bought previous her within the semi-final, with their instances of sub-2:20 being practically three seconds faster than third quickest Tes Schouten.
Smith’s personal Olympic document of two:18.95 seemed prefer it could possibly be threatened, however absolutely Evgeniia Chikunova’s world mark of two:17.55 was out of attain?
Because it turned out the information weren’t threatened and so they each touched within the excessive 2:19s, as they’d completed within the semi-finals. Right here although they had been each faster, the profitable time being 2:19.24, half a second faster.
Story of the race
Reverse to the 100m, the South African was well off the blocks and reached 50m first in 31.60.
Nevertheless, Douglass was higher in her turns the place she eeked out a bonus over Smith who then got here again at her down every 50m.
The American would then flip and kick off the wall once more and go half a physique size up and Smith would shut in the direction of the subsequent wall. And so was the story of the race.
Douglass should be credited for the resolve she confirmed. And, within the final 15 metres she wasn’t there for the catching, retaining an amazing champion at bay to take her personal place within the Olympic highlight.
Gary Lemke is reporting dwell from Paris for the Staff SA web site all through the Paris Olympics 2024
