Sport
3 South African Olympians to Watch this Week
Here’s some of SA’s Olympic stars to keep an eye on this week.
The 2016 Rio Olympic Games are here, there’s plenty proud South Africans flying the flag throughout the tournament, but we’ve highlighted 3 that you’ll need to keep your eye on this week:
Chad le Clos (Swimming)
Men’s 200m Freestyle final, Tuesday, 03:21
Of course, one of South Africa’s golden swimming heroes Chad le Close will be in action this week. One of his key events will be the Men’s 200m Freestyle final, which will see him go up against the likes of China’s Sun Yang and the USA’s Dwyer Conor. Le Close clocked a solid qualifying time of 1:45.94 (which was the fourth best) to make the final. His race might be early for us locals, but the 24-year-old Durbanite (who will be in Lane 1) looks to be in great form.
Seabelo Senatla (Rugby Sevens)
SA v Spain, Tuesday, 16:30 | SA v France, Tuesday, 21:30 | SA v Aus, Wednesday, 16:30
Easily one of the fastest men on the rugby sevens circuit is Seabelo Senatla, and the SA Player of the Year nominee will be in full stride this week when the men’s rugby sevens kicks off this week. Senatla, who has become a prolific try-scorer for the Blitzboks, will test his speed and skill against Spain and France on Tuesday, and tackle the Aussies on Wednesday. Keep an eye on this man, as he is South Africa’s key strike-weapon to grabbing that Gold for Sevens in Rio this year.
Zack Piontek (Judo)
Judo 90KG elimination round of 32, Wednesday, time TBA
South African judo star Zack Piontek won the African Open in Port Louis in 2013 and in 2015 and bronze in 2014. In 2014, he also won the Commonwealth Games, and more recently the PanAm Open in Lima and grabbed silver at the Arican Championships in 2016. This man is one dangerous Judo competitor, and will be up against the worthy Brazilian Thiago Camilo on Wednesday in the 90kg elimination round of 32.
Which Olympic event are you most excited for this week? Let us know by tweeting us @MenStuffZA!
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