#IOLYMPICS - SA`s ten best Rio moments

Source: IOL, 22/08/2016

With Team SA leaving the Rio Olympics on a high after achieving their
target of 10 medals, we rounded up some of their most memorable
moments at the 2016 Olympic Games.


The list would have to start with Wayde van Niekerk`s record-breaking
gold medal performance in the 400m.


Running `blind` in lane eight is considered the worst spot on the
track, but if anything, it made Van Niekerk push harder just to make
sure none of his competitors came creeping into his peripheral vision.
His astonishing run carried him straight into the history books when
he smashed through Michael Johnson`s 17-year-old record time. Johnson
seemed delighted.


"That was a massacre from Wayde van Niekerk," he said. "He just put
those guys away."


Women`4s 800 metre champ Caster Semenya was subject to more scrutiny
than any other athlete at the Olympics. After all the controversy,
watching her tear up the track and claim her gold medal seemed like a
triumph not only over her competitors, but over her detractors. She
sliced 2 seconds off the time that won her silver at the London
Olympics in 2012, in a performance that she dubbed
#UnlimitedCobra.


Another moment that stood out for the Cape Argus team was how Usain
Bolt decided his priorities.


The legendary sprinter interrupted a television interview to run into
the stands and congratulate Van Niekerk on his win and time of 43.03
seconds. While training in Jamaica, Bolt had reportedly told a
disbelieving Van Niekerk he was capable of breaking the world
record.

After the race, Bolt delivered an extremely
satisfying "I told you so".


Rowing teammates Lawrence Brittain and Shaun Keeling won a silver
medal in the men`s pairs, and they didn`t only beat the competition.


Eighteen months earlier, Brittain had received his last dose
of chemotherapy after a battle with Hodgkin`s lymphoma. He not only
crushed cancer, but recovered well enough to claim his place on the
Olympic podium.


Western Cape long jumper Luvo Manyonga wasn`t really on anybody`s
radar going into the event, because he had competed in so few
international meets - mostly thanks to a drug-related ban.
When he took the lead with his fourth jump, jaws dropped around the
world. By his fifth jump, he was comfortably in gold position. He
bailed on his last jump, and American Jeff Henderson pipped him to
first place by 1 centimetre, but it was still a massive symbolic
victory for the young athlete.


Henri Schoeman looked even more surprised than the throngs of South
Africans watching him cross the finish line of the men`s triathlon in
third position.


His hands went to his head in disbelief and he looked back over his
shoulder to check that fellow South African Richard Murray, a
favourite for the race, was really behind him.


Then, the rivalry between Chad le Clos and swimming ace Michael Phelps
is legendary. When Le Clos was caught on camera shadow boxing in front
of Phelps in a warm-up room before a race, it was internet gold. As it
turned out, Le Clos bit off more than he could chew and Phelps beat
him in the pool, but not before Twitter made a meal of the American`s
glare.


Another memorable moment belongs to Semenya. As a gold medal winner,
she was obliged to attend a press conference. She took the opportunity
to give everyone a schooling about what the Olympic spirit is
about.


"It`s all about loving one another. It is not about discriminating
people and looking at people in terms of how they look, how they speak
and how they have run. It`s not about being masculine. It`s about
sports. When you leave your apartment you don`t want to look at what
you look like. You just want to do better. The message to people out
there is to have fun and see what you can achieve."


If anything could take the edge off the Blitzboks` semi-final defeat
at the hands of Great Britain, it was the team`s 54-14 victory over
Japan for the bronze medal.


Sunette Viljoen shot into the final of the women`s javelin with one
spectacular throw. She cleared the 63 metre mark in her first attempt,
which meant she qualified automatically for the final. She won the
silver medal.


And finally, sprinter Akani Simbine may not have set foot on the
podium, but he qualified for the final of the men`s 100m and raced
against Usain Bolt. He finished in under 10 seconds, crossing the line
fifth. Simbine is the first South African to qualify for the 100m
final since 1932. – Cape Argus