South Africa at the Olympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids South Africa at the {{{games}}}
IOC code	RSA
NOC	South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee
Medals Ranked 39th	Gold Silver Bronze Total 28 36 31 95
Summer appearances
1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964–1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winter appearances
1960 1964–1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018

South Africa first joined the Olympic Games in 1904. The country sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games until 1960. However, after 1960, South Africa was not allowed to compete in the Games. This was because of its unfair policy called apartheid, which separated people based on their race.

After talks began in 1990 to end apartheid, South Africa was welcomed back into the Olympic family. The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee was formed in 1991. South Africa then returned to the Games at the 1992 Summer Olympics. They also took part in the 1992 Summer Paralympics. South Africa had also participated in the Winter Olympic Games in 1960 and has done so again since 1994.

South African athletes have won a total of 95 medals. The sports where they have won the most medals are athletics, boxing, and swimming.

South Africa's Olympic Journey

Early Days at the Games

Mashiani (left) and Tau before the race at the 1904 Olympics.

South African athletes first competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis. Not many foreign athletes came to these Games. So, the organizers invited people from the 1904 World's Fair to compete. Among them were General Piet Cronjé, Len Taunyane, and Jan Mashiani. These three were veterans of the Second Boer War. They had been prisoners of war and were reenacting battle scenes at the fair.

Taunyane and Mashiani took part in the men's marathon. They were the first black Africans to ever compete in the Olympics. They were also the only black people to represent South Africa in the Olympics until the end of apartheid.

Even though the four British colonies in South Africa had not yet formed the Union of South Africa (which happened in 1910), they sent a combined team to the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. There, Reggie Walker won South Africa's first gold medal.

The first South African woman to compete in the Olympics was swimmer Barbara Nash in 1920. The first women to win medals were a team of four swimmers in 1928. They won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay.

Banned from the Olympics

South Africa first joined the Winter Olympics in 1960. The Summer Games in Rome that same year would be its last for a long time. The country was not invited to the 1964 Games. Its invitation for the 1968 Games was taken back because other teams threatened to leave.

The South African Olympic and National Games Association was removed from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1970. This ban was due to South Africa's apartheid policy. This policy was seen as unfair and against the Olympic spirit of equality.

Return to the Games

In 1991, a new non-racial Olympic committee was created in South Africa. It was called the Interim National Olympic Committee of South Africa. This happened during the time when South Africa was moving towards equal rights for all races. This committee later became the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee. It joined the IOC a few months later. South Africa then made its return to the Olympics at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Olympic Medals Won by South Africa

Medals from Summer Games

Games	Athletes	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
1904 St. Louis	8	0	0	0	0	-
1908 London	14	1	1	0	2	14
1912 Stockholm	21	4	2	0	6	7
1920 Antwerp	39	3	4	3	10	11
1924 Paris	30	1	1	1	3	18
1928 Amsterdam	24	1	0	2	3	23
1932 Los Angeles	12	2	0	3	5	15
1936 Berlin	32	0	1	0	1	25
1948 London	35	2	1	1	4	18
1952 Helsinki	64	2	4	4	10	12
1956 Melbourne	50	0	0	4	4	33
1960 Rome	55	0	1	2	3	28
1964 Tokyo	Excluded
1968 Mexico City
1972 Munich
1976 Montreal
1980 Moscow
1984 Los Angeles
1988 Seoul
1992 Barcelona	93	0	2	0	2	41
1996 Atlanta	84	3	1	1	5	27
2000 Sydney	127	0	2	3	5	55
2004 Athens	106	1	3	2	6	43
2008 Beijing	136	0	1	0	1	70
2012 London	125	4	1	1	6	20
2016 Rio de Janeiro	138	2	6	2	10	30
2020 Tokyo	177	1	2	0	3	52
2024 Paris	149	1	3	2	6	44
2028 Los Angeles	future event
Total		28	36	31	95	37

Medals from Winter Games

Games	Athletes	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
1960 Squaw Valley	4	0	0	0	0	–
1964 Innsbruck	Excluded
1968 Grenoble
1972 Sapporo
1976 Innsbruck
1980 Lake Placid
1984 Sarajevo
1988 Calgary
1992 Albertville
1994 Lillehammer	2	0	0	0	0	–
1998 Nagano	2	0	0	0	0	–
2002 Salt Lake City	1	0	0	0	0	–
2006 Turin	3	0	0	0	0	–
2010 Vancouver	2	0	0	0	0	–
2014 Sochi	did not participate
2018 Pyeongchang	1	0	0	0	0	–
2022 Beijing	did not participate
2026 Milan/Cortina	future event
Total		0	0	0	0	–

Medals by Sport

South Africa has won medals in several sports. Here's a breakdown of their success:

South African Medal Winners

Here is a list of athletes who have won medals for South Africa at the Olympic Games:

Medal	Name	Games	Sport	Event
1 Gold	Walker, ReggieReggie Walker	1908 London	Athletics	Men's 100m
2 Silver	Hefferon, CharlesCharles Hefferon	1908 London	Athletics	Men's Marathon
1 Gold	McArthur, KenKen McArthur	1912 Stockholm	Athletics	Men's Marathon
1 Gold	Lewis, RudolphRudolph Lewis	1912 Stockholm	Cycling	Men's Individual Time Trial
1 Gold	Kitson, HaroldHarold Kitson Winslow, CharlesCharles Winslow	1912 Stockholm	Tennis	Men's Doubles Outdoor
1 Gold	Winslow, CharlesCharles Winslow	1912 Stockholm	Tennis	Men's Singles Outdoor
2 Silver	Gitsham, ChristianChristian Gitsham	1912 Stockholm	Athletics	Men's Marathon
2 Silver	Kitson, HaroldHarold Kitson	1912 Stockholm	Tennis	Men's Singles Outdoor
1 Gold	Rudd, BevilBevil Rudd	1920 Antwerp	Athletics	Men's 400m
1 Gold	Walker, ClarenceClarence Walker	1920 Antwerp	Boxing	Men's Bantamweight
1 Gold	Raymond, LouisLouis Raymond	1920 Antwerp	Tennis	Men's Singles
2 Silver	Dafel, HenryHenry Dafel Oosterlak, JackJack Oosterlak Oldfield, ClarenceClarence Oldfield Rudd, BevilBevil Rudd	1920 Antwerp	Athletics	Men's 400m Relay
2 Silver	Kaltenbrunn, HenryHenry Kaltenbrunn	1920 Antwerp	Cycling	Men's Individual Time Trial
2 Silver	Smith, WilliamWilliam Smith Walker, JamesJames Walker	1920 Antwerp	Cycling	Men's Tandem
2 Silver	Smith, DavidDavid Smith Bodley, RobertRobert Bodley Buchanan, FerdinandFerdinand Buchanan Morgan, FrederickFrederick Morgan	1920 Antwerp	Shooting	Men's Team 600m Military Rifle
3 Bronze	Rudd, BevilBevil Rudd	1920 Antwerp	Athletics	Men's 800m
3 Bronze	Walker, JamesJames Walker Smith, WilliamWilliam Smith Kaltenbrunn, HenryHenry Kaltenbrunn Goosen, HarryHarry Goosen	1920 Antwerp	Cycling	Team Pursuit
3 Bronze	Winslow, CharlesCharles Winslow	1920 Antwerp	Tennis	Men's Singles
1 Gold	Smith, WilliamWilliam Smith	1924 Paris	Boxing	Men's Bantamweight
2 Silver	Atkinson, SydneySydney Atkinson	1924 Paris	Athletics	Men's 110m Hurdles
3 Bronze	McMaster, CecilCecil McMaster	1924 Paris	Athletics	Men's 10 Km Walk
1 Gold	Atkinson, SydneySydney Atkinson	1928 Amsterdam	Athletics	Men's 110m Hurdles
3 Bronze	Isaacs, HarryHarry Isaacs	1928 Amsterdam	Boxing	Men's Bantamweight
3 Bronze	Rennie, RhodaRhoda Rennie van der Goes, FredericaFrederica van der Goes Bedford, MaryMary Bedford Russell, KathleenKathleen Russell	1928 Amsterdam	Swimming	Women's 4 × 100m Freestyle Relay
1 Gold	Stevens, LawrenceLawrence Stevens	1932 Los Angeles	Boxing	Men's lightweight
1 Gold	Carstens, DavidDavid Carstens	1932 Los Angeles	Boxing	Men's light-heavyweight
3 Bronze	Clark, MarjorieMarjorie Clark	1932 Los Angeles	Athletics	Women's 80m hurdles
3 Bronze	Peirce, ErnestErnest Peirce	1932 Los Angeles	Boxing	Men's middleweight
3 Bronze	Maakal, JennyJenny Maakal	1932 Los Angeles	Swimming	Women's 400m freestyle
2 Silver	Catterall, CharlesCharles Catterall	1936 Berlin	Boxing	Men's featherweight
1 Gold	Dreyer, GeraldGerald Dreyer	1948 London	Boxing	Men's lightweight
1 Gold	Hunter, GeorgeGeorge Hunter	1948 London	Boxing	Men's light-heavyweight
2 Silver	Shepherd, DennisDennis Shepherd	1948 London	Boxing	Men's featherweight
3 Bronze	Arthur, JohnJohn Arthur	1948 London	Boxing	Men's heavyweight
1 Gold	Brand, EstherEsther Brand	1952 Helsinki	Athletics	Women's high jump
1 Gold	Harrison, JoanJoan Harrison	1952 Helsinki	Swimming	Women's 100m backstroke
2 Silver	Robb-Hasenjäger, DaphneDaphne Robb-Hasenjäger	1952 Helsinki	Athletics	Women's 100m
2 Silver	Van Schalkwyk, TheunisTheunis Van Schalkwyk	1952 Helsinki	Boxing	Men's light-middleweight
2 Silver	Robinson, RaymondRaymond Robinson Thomas Shardelow	1952 Helsinki	Cycling (Track)	Men's 2000m tandem
2 Silver	Estman, GeorgeGeorge Estman Robert Fowler Thomas Shardelow Alfred Swift	1952 Helsinki	Cycling (Track)	Men's team pursuit (4000m)
3 Bronze	Toweel, WilliamWilliam Toweel	1952 Helsinki	Boxing	Men's flyweight
3 Bronze	Leisching, LeonardLeonard Leisching	1952 Helsinki	Boxing	Men's featherweight
3 Bronze	Nieman, AndriesAndries Nieman	1952 Helsinki	Boxing	Men's heavyweight
3 Bronze	Robinson, RaymondRaymond Robinson	1952 Helsinki	Cycling (Track)	Men's 1 km time trial
3 Bronze	Bekker, DanielDaniel Bekker	1956 Melbourne/Stockholm	Boxing	Men's heavyweight
3 Bronze	Loubscher, HenryHenry Loubscher	1956 Melbourne/Stockholm	Boxing	Men's light-welterweight
3 Bronze	Swift, AlfredAlfred Swift	1956 Melbourne/Stockholm	Cycling (Track)	Men's 1 km time trial
3 Bronze	Abernethy, MoiraMoira Abernethy Jeanette Myburgh Natalie Myburgh Susan Elizabeth Roberts	1956 Melbourne/Stockholm	Swimming	Women's 4 × 100m freestyle relay
2 Silver	Bekker, DanielDaniel Bekker	1960 Rome	Boxing	Men's heavyweight
3 Bronze	Spence, Malcolm CliveMalcolm Clive Spence	1960 Rome	Athletics	Men's 400m
3 Bronze	Meyers, WilliamWilliam Meyers	1960 Rome	Boxing	Men's featherweight
2 Silver	Meyer, ElanaElana Meyer	1992 Barcelona	Athletics	Women's 10,000m
2 Silver	Ferreira, WayneWayne Ferreira Piet Norval	1992 Barcelona	Tennis	Men's Doubles
1 Gold	Thugwane, JosiaJosia Thugwane	1996 Atlanta	Athletics	Men's marathon
1 Gold	Heyns, PenelopePenelope Heyns	1996 Atlanta	Swimming	Women's 100m breaststroke
1 Gold	Heyns, PenelopePenelope Heyns	1996 Atlanta	Swimming	Women's 200m breaststroke
2 Silver	Sepeng, HezekielHezekiel Sepeng	1996 Atlanta	Athletics	Men's 800m
3 Bronze	Kriel, MarianneMarianne Kriel	1996 Atlanta	Swimming	Women's 100m backstroke
2 Silver	Cloete, HestrieHestrie Cloete	2000 Sydney	Athletics	Women's high jump
2 Silver	Parkin, TerenceTerence Parkin	2000 Sydney	Swimming	Men's 200m breaststroke
3 Bronze	Herbert, LlewellynLlewellyn Herbert	2000 Sydney	Athletics	Men's 400m hurdles
3 Bronze	Kruger, FrantzFrantz Kruger	2000 Sydney	Athletics	Men's discus throw
3 Bronze	Heyns, PenelopePenelope Heyns	2000 Sydney	Swimming	Women's 100m breaststroke
1 Gold	Ferns, LyndonLyndon Ferns Ryk Neethling Roland Mark Schoeman Darian Townsend	2004 Athens	Swimming	Men's 4 × 100m freestyle relay
2 Silver	Mulaudzi, MbulaeniMbulaeni Mulaudzi	2004 Athens	Athletics	Men's 800m
2 Silver	Cloete, HestrieHestrie Cloete	2004 Athens	Athletics	Women's high jump
2 Silver	Schoeman, Roland MarkRoland Mark Schoeman	2004 Athens	Swimming	Men's 100m freestyle
3 Bronze	Cech, DonovanDonovan Cech Ramon di Clemente	2004 Athens	Rowing	Men's coxless pair
3 Bronze	Schoeman, Roland MarkRoland Mark Schoeman	2004 Athens	Swimming	Men's 50m freestyle
2 Silver	Mokoena, KhotsoKhotso Mokoena	2008 Beijing	Athletics	Men's long jump
1 Gold	Ndlovu, SizweSizwe Ndlovu Brittain, MatthewMatthew Brittain Smith, JohnJohn Smith Thompson, JamesJames Thompson	2012 London	Rowing	Men's Lightweight Four
1 Gold	van der Burgh, CameronCameron van der Burgh	2012 London	Swimming	Men's 100m breaststroke
1 Gold	le Clos, ChadChad le Clos	2012 London	Swimming	Men's 200m butterfly
1 Gold	Semenya, CasterCaster Semenya	2012 London	Athletics	Women's 800m
2 Silver	le Clos, ChadChad le Clos	2012 London	Swimming	Men's 100m butterfly
3 Bronze	Hartley, BridgitteBridgitte Hartley	2012 London	Canoeing	Women's K-1 500m
1 Gold	Van Niekerk, WaydeWayde Van Niekerk	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Athletics	Men's 400m
1 Gold	Semenya, CasterCaster Semenya	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Athletics	Women's 800m
2 Silver	le Clos, ChadChad le Clos	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Swimming	Men's 200m freestyle
2 Silver	Keeling, ShaunShaun Keeling Brittain, LawrenceLawrence Brittain	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Rowing	Men's coxless pair
2 Silver	le Clos, ChadChad le Clos	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Swimming	Men's 100m butterfly
2 Silver	van der Burgh, CameronCameron van der Burgh	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Swimming	Men's 100m breaststroke
2 Silver	Manyonga, LuvoLuvo Manyonga	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Athletics	Men's long jump
2 Silver	Viljoen, SunetteSunette Viljoen	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Athletics	Women's javelin throw
3 Bronze	Kolbe, CheslinCheslin Kolbe de Jongh, JuanJuan de Jongh Senatla, SeabeloSeabelo Senatla Geduld, JustinJustin Geduld Brown, KyleKyle Brown Afrika, CecilCecil Afrika Smith, KwaggaKwagga Smith Kok, WernerWerner Kok Specman, RoskoRosko Specman Snyman, PhilipPhilip Snyman Sage, DylanDylan Sage Hougaard, FrancoisFrancois Hougaard Agaba, TimTim Agaba	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Rugby Sevens	Men's tournament
3 Bronze	Schoeman, HenriHenri Schoeman	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Triathlon	Men's Triathlon
1 Gold	Schoenmaker, TatjanaTatjana Schoenmaker	2020 Tokyo	Swimming	Women's 200m breaststroke
2 Silver	Schoenmaker, TatjanaTatjana Schoenmaker	2020 Tokyo	Swimming	Women's 100m breaststroke
2 Silver	Buitendag, BiancaBianca Buitendag	2020 Tokyo	Surfing	Women's Shortboard
1 Gold	Smith, TatjanaTatjana Smith	2024 Paris	Swimming	Women's 100m breaststroke
2 Silver	Smith, TatjanaTatjana Smith	2024 Paris	Swimming	Women's 200m breaststroke
2 Silver	Jo-Ann Van Dyk	2024 Paris	Athletics	Women's javelin throw
2 Silver	Bayanda Walaza Shaun Maswanganyi Bradley Nkoana Akani Simbine	2024 Paris	Athletics	Men's 4 × 100 m relay
3 Bronze	Alan Hatherly	2024 Paris	Cycling	Men's cross-country
3 Bronze	Christie Grobbelaar Ryan Oosthuizen Impi Visser Zain Davids Quewin Nortje Tiaan Pretorius Tristan Leyds Selvyn Davids Shaun Williams Rosko Specman Siviwe Soyizwapi Shilton van Wyk Ronald Brown	2024 Paris	Rugby sevens	Men's tournament

See Also

• List of flag bearers for South Africa at the Olympics
• Category:Olympic competitors for South Africa
• South Africa at the Paralympics