The Paris 2024 Olympic Games produced an unforgettably 11 days of athletics with countless records, brilliant performances and too many highlights to mention. – By Simon Turnbull with Sean Falconer
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Tatjana Smith retires, looking forward to life after swimming
Tatjana Smith has announced her retirement shortly after making history as South Africa’s most successful Olympian at the 2024 Paris Games.
The announcement wasn’t entirely unexpected, as the 27-year-old has consistently expressed that swimming does not define her. She values her life outside of the pool and believes it’s best for champions to retire while on top.
A devoted Christian, Smith has always felt there is a greater purpose to her life than winning medals. Having married late last year and with the next Olympics approaching in her thirties, she said, “I’m looking forward to my life outside of swimming.”
Reflecting on her career, Smith remarked, “It was an amazing battle and I’ve never raced Kate (Douglass) in an Olympic final before. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my career in such a tough competition. I’ve always loved competing.”
In confirming her retirement, she added, “Achievements fade, but people remember who you are. I want to be remembered for bringing joy to others. Swimming was just one season in my life, and now I’m excited for the next chapter.”
Smith capped her illustrious career by winning her fourth Olympic medal—a silver in the women’s 200m breaststroke—bringing her total to two golds and two silvers across two Games.
Photo by Anton Geyser
https://www.teamsa.co.za/tatjana-smith-announces-swimming-retirement/
Luxolo Adams determined to overcome “speed bumps” on road to Paris
By Karien Jonckheere
Luxolo Adams is yet to get his track season underway. A grade 2 hamstring tear has kept him on the sidelines, but the 27-year-old sprinter is confident he can come back stronger than ever as he builds towards the Paris Olympics, with the opening ceremony now less than eight weeks away.
“We’ve had some speed humps on the road, but I’ve expanded my team in terms of my health side of things, so we are quite positive, everyone is working hard towards that,” he explained, adding that he has based himself in Johannesburg to get the treatment he needs.
“I should leave South Africa mid-June to go and start competing against the best in the world and then we take it from there.”
Adams made a name for himself by running a speedy 19.82 seconds on his way to victory in the 200m at the Paris Diamond League meet in 2022.
A month later he reached the 200m final at his first World Championships in Eugene, Oregon. But at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, after running 20.15 in the heats, he was involved in the bizarre collision between two golf carts transporting athletes from the warm-up track to the stadium and was badly shaken before his semifinal.
Fortunately for the Gqeberha sprinter, the quick time in those Budapest heats saw him qualifying for the Paris Olympics as he has not competed since then.
“I’m a seasonal athlete,” he explained. “I always come through at the end, and when I’m back I’m back. I think I’ve mastered that now in terms of knowing how to go back, and how to run fast after I’ve had an obstacle along the way,” added Adams, who has dealt with his fair share of obstacles during his career.
“I don’t let that thing put me off my talent. This is my food, this is how I live, this is what puts food on the table. So I’m not going to let anything small get into my head,” he reckoned.
“We don’t want to get too excited because we’ve got a big fish to fry, so we are taking each and every step with precautions. Obviously we want to get to the Olympic Games.”
As for the excellent form that has already been shown this season by other international sprinters, Adams added: “With everyone that has competed so far most of them are looking good… I’m happy for them that they are running fast times now, but I would be worried because it’s still early.
“The Olympic Games are only in August. We want to get to the final so we can’t impress early, we need to impress when it matters.”
Sport Man Says: Olympic Lustre Lost?
The frustrating case of SA’s Elroy Gelant missing out on qualifying to run the marathon at the Paris Olympics in August has left a sour taste in my mouth. – By Manfred Seidler
Road To Redemption: Simbine sets sights on Paris
By Karien Jonckheere
After shaking off a disappointing end to last season, which had started so promisingly but ended with a false start in the 100m semifinal and a dropped baton at the World Athletics Championships, Akani Simbine is only looking forward.
Forward to next month’s National Championships and then on to the Olympic Games in Paris. He’s now a married man, feeling settled and revved up for the season ahead.
“I’m feeling good, it’s been a good start to the year, a good start to the season. I’m healthy, training is going really well, I had my first off-season race with the 150 which went well, and everything is just going according to plan right now,” he explained, referring to the new SA record he set in the rarely run 150m at the Simbine Curro Classic Shootout in Pretoria last month.
“That was very important because I think coming from my last race, which was the DQ at world champs, it was a confidence booster and also getting that tick in your mind saying that OK, you know what, I can still do this, I’ve still got that competitive edge, I’m still hungry to compete,” added the 30-year-old.
“We’re building up to SAs now, making sure that I run well there, retain my title there, and get on to the rest of the year. I’m looking forward to it, confident for the season, confident for the year.”
Simbine has described the Olympic year ahead as one in which he and his coach Werner Prinsloo are taking care of unfinished business.
“Paris is a race and a place where I’m looking forward to running. For Coach and I it’s also kind of like a redemption road where we had everything ticked off last year and the false start happened. So now this year it’s about coming back and just keeping on working and doing everything that we need to do to make sure we’re ready to race.
“It’s just another race at the end of the day… It’s just the title that changes and I need to get that in my head and to accept that and enjoy it and give my all,” added the two-time Olympic finalist who has earned a reputation as one of the gentlemen of the sport.
Perhaps what keeps him so grounded is his mission to give back through his company Back Sports, which aims to provide a platform for younger athletes to excel – not only in the sport itself by broadcasting their exploits but also by getting them involved behind the scenes in the TV production.
“We’re giving the students an opportunity to learn production, to learn how to shoot, how to do media and just giving them that skill… So we pay them a salary, and then you’re allowed to go train, go to championships.
“For us it’s literally empowering them in those ways, just changing lives, and just making a small impact where we can. We’ve been blessed with an opportunity with Supersport schools to spread our wings and shoot the sporting events and empower more kids and have more reach. I think we have teams all over the country and that’s close to 100 kids that we are changing lives for, that’s 100 families that we’re changing lives for and impacting. And for me, if we’re doing that, I’m happy.”
