South Africa at the Olympics

History

South African athletes first participated in the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, when few foreign athletes arrived and the organisers invited participants of the adjacent 1904 World's Fair to compete. General Piet Cronjé, Len Taunyane, and Jan Mashiani, all Boer War veterans who had been taken prisoner by the British at St. Helena after the Battle of Paardeberg and had reenacted battle scenes at the fair, participated in the men's marathon. Len Taunyane and Jan Mashiani were the first black Africans to participate in the Olympics, and the only black people to represent South Africa in the Olympics until the end of apartheid.

Although the four British colonies of Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River did not form the Union of South Africa until 1910, they fielded a combined South Africa team at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, where Reggie Walker won its first gold medal. The first South African woman in the Olympics was swimmer Barbara Nash in 1920, and the first women to win medals were the 1928 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay quartet, who came third. The South African Olympic and Empire Games Association was awarded the 1934 British Empire Games in Johannesburg but backed out when it became evident that they would have to allow a team from India to compete.

South Africa first entered the Winter Olympics in 1960, and that summer's games in Rome would be its last till the end of apartheid. It was not invited to the 1964 Games, and its 1968 invitation was withdrawn when other teams threatened to withdraw. The South African Olympic and National Games Association was expelled from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1970.

The nonracial Interim National Olympic Committee of South Africa (now South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee) was founded in 1991 during the transition to multiracial equality and affiliated to the IOC months later. The country returned at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Medal tables

Medals by Summer Games

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• Art competitions (1912–1948) are not included in the medal table above, as they were non-sports events formerly part of the Olympic Games. South Africa won a total of two art competition medals (1 silver, and 1 bronze), both at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

Medals by Winter Games

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Medals by sport

List of medalists

Medalists in sports

Medalists in art competitions

Main article: List of Olympic medalists in art competitions

In addition to its accomplishments in sport, South Africa has also earned recognition in Olympic art competitions—one of the three non-sports events once included in the Olympic Games. The country won a total of two art competition medals (1 silver, and 1 bronze), both at the 1948 Summer Olympics. These events were part of the official Olympic program in seven Summer Games, from 1912 to 1948. In 1952, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) formally discontinued all non-sport events (including art competitions), as well as awards for feats (such as alpinism and aeronautics). These were subsequently removed from official national medal counts.

Notes

References

References

1. van der Merwe, Floris J.G.. (1999). "Africa's First Encounter with the Olympic Games In....1904". [[Journal of Olympic History]].
2. Laubscher, Lappe. (23 August 2017). "South Africa and the Olympic Games".
3. (2024). "Olympic Analytics – South Africa (RSA)". Olympic Analytics.
4. (2024). "South Africa - NOC Profile". [[International Olympic Committee]] (IOC).
5. (2023). "Olympedia – South Africa (RSA)". Olympedia.
6. "Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Literature, Lyric Works, Open". Olympedia.
7. "Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Painting, Graphic Arts, Open". Olympedia.
8. McGillivray, Mary. (2024-07-31). "ABC TV's The Art Of explores the surprising history of art competitions at the Olympics".