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 participated at the Olympic Games in 1904, and sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games until 1960. After the passage of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1761 in 1962 in response to South Africa's policy of apartheid, the nation was barred from the Games. After the negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa commenced in 1990, the nation re-joined the Olympic movement. The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee was created in 1991, and South Africa returned to the Games at the 1992 Summer Olympics (and the 1992 Summer Paralympics). South Africa also participated in the Winter Olympic Games in 1960, and since 1994. South African athletes have won a total of 90 medals, with athletics, boxing, and swimming as the top medal-producing sports.

History

Mashiani (left) and Tau before the race

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 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 by 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

List of medalists

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

In Spanish: Sudáfrica en los Juegos Olímpicos para niños

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