South Africa will go into their fifth Olympic Games since their return from sporting isolation with their medal hopes once again pinned on their swimmers and track and field athletes.
Since their Olympic ban, imposed in 1964 because of South Africa’s apartheid regime, was lifted by the International Olympic Committee and they were allowed to compete in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, South Africa has won just 18 medals in total.
Of those, 16 have come in athletics and swimming, with the two codes accounting for eight medals each.
Rowing, at Athens in 2004, and tennis, in Barcelona, have provided the Rainbow Nation with one apiece.
Nothing is ever certain in South African sport, where politics plays such a large role.
Swimming South Africa were hit by a funding crisis in May, while a parliamentary committee on sport criticized the racial make-up of the men’s hockey team.
There is similar uncertainty when predicting the medal prospects of the country’s Olympic team for Beijing, which, with 225 members is the biggest yet sent to the Games by South Africa.
Roland Schoeman, who won three medals in the pool in Athens, is expected to lead the charge for medals in China.
Suzaan van Biljon is considered a medal chance in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, as is Gerhard Zandberg in the 50m backstroke.
Natalie du Toit, who had her left leg amputated in a traffic accident in 2001, became the first athlete to be named in a nation’s Olympic and Paralympic teams.
Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, who took silver in the 800m in Athens, is the brightest South African prospect on the track.
South Africa also has a surprisingly large canoeing team.
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