South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

competed at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's sixteenth overall and fourth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-apartheid era. The

South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) ( af, Suid-Afrikaanse Sportkonfederasie en Olimpiese Komitee) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for South Africa, and the respon ...

(SASCOC) sent a total of 106 athletes to the Games, 66 men and 40 women, to compete in 19 sports.

Field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

was the only team-based sport in which South Africa had its representation at these Games. There was only a single competitor in archery, canoeing, diving, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, judo, sailing, shooting, taekwondo, and wrestling. The South African team featured four Olympic medalists from Sydney: breaststroke swimmer Terence Parkin, high jumper

Hestrie Cloete Hestrie Cloete OIS (née Storbeck; born on 26 August 1978) is a former South African professional high jumper. Her foremost achievements were winning two world championships and two silver medals at the Olympic Games. Career Cloete was disc ...

, discus thrower

Frantz Kruger Frantz Kruger (born 22 May 1975 in Kempton Park, South Africa) is a South African born Finnish discus thrower who won the Olympic bronze medal in 2000. He is also a double African champion. His personal best throw of 70.32 metres, achieved i ...

, and hurdler Llewellyn Herbert. Several athletes made their third consecutive Olympic appearance, including freestyle

Ryk Neethling Ryk Neethling Order of Ikhamanga, OIS (born 17 November 1977) is a South African businessman who rose to prominence as the three-times World Champion and four-times World Record Breaking Swimming at the Summer Olympics, Olympic swimming champion ...

and middle distance runner

Hezekiél Sepeng Hezekiél Sello Sepeng (born 30 June 1974), is a South African middle distance runner who won silver in the Olympic 800 metres final in Atlanta 1996 (behind Vebjørn Rodal), the 1998 Commonwealth Games (behind Japheth Kimutai) and the World Cha ...

, who previously won the silver in Atlanta for the men's 800 metres. Sepeng's fellow runner and teammate

Mbulaeni Mulaudzi Mbulaeni Tongai Mulaudzi (8 September 1980 – 24 October 2014) was a South African middle distance runner, and the 2009 world champion in the men's 800 metres. His first global medal was a silver at the 2000 African Championships in Athletics ...

, a top medal contender on the same event, later became the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. South Africa left Athens with a remarkable tally of six Olympic medals, one gold, three silver, and two bronze, being considered its most successful Olympics since the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. The highlight of the South African team at these Games came with a surprising triumph in men's swimming, when

Roland Mark Schoeman Roland Mark Schoeman OIS (born 4 July 1980) is a South African American swimmer and was a member of the South African swimming team at the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. In May 2022, he officially became United States citizen. Ca ...

Lyndon Ferns Lyndon Ferns (born 24 September 1983 in Pietersburg, South Africa) is a retired Olympic gold-medalist and former world record swimmer from South Africa. He swam for South Africa at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. At the 2004 Olympics, he was a ...

, and

Darian Townsend Darian Roy Townsend (born 28 August 1984) is a competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist who competed for South Africa. He became a U.S. citizen during the summer of 2014, and has subsequently represented the United States in international ...

held a major upset on the Aussies, Americans, and the Dutch for a new world record and a prestigious gold medal in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. Furthermore, Schoeman completed a full set of medals to become the most decorated South African athlete at these Games, adding his silver in the men's 100 m freestyle and bronze in the men's 50 m freestyle. Cloete managed to repeat her silver from Sydney in the women's high jump, while

Donovan Cech Donovan Cech (born 2 May 1974) is a South African rower. He competes in the Coxless Pairs division and his boat partner for the past few years has been Ramon di Clemente. The pair won a Bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Ath ...

and

Ramon di Clemente Ramon di Clemente (born 2 May 1975) is a South African rower and Olympic medalist. He competes in the coxless pair event with his boat partner of the past few years, Donovan Cech. They won the bronze medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics ...

claimed a bronze for the first time in men's rowing. Field hockey players Craig and Natalie Fulton became the first married couple to represent South Africa at the same Olympic Games.

Medalists

Archery

One South African archer qualified for the women's individual archery through the African Championships.

Athletics

South African athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard). ;Men ;Track & road events ;Field events ;Women ;Track & road events ;Field events ;Combined events –

Heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

Badminton

Boxing

South Africa sent three boxers to Athens.

Canoeing

Sprint

Qualification Legend: Q = Qualify to final; q = Qualify to semifinal

Cycling

Road

Diving

South African divers qualified for two individual spots at the 2004 Olympic Games. ;Women

Fencing

;Women

Field hockey

Men's tournament

;Roster ;Group play ---- ---- ---- ---- ;Classification match (9th–12th place) ;9th place final

Women's tournament

;Roster ;Group play ---- ---- ---- ;9th place final

Gymnastics

Artistic

;Women

Rhythmic

Judo

South Africa has qualified a single judoka.

Rowing

South African rowers qualified the following boats: ;Men Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; R=Repechage

Sailing

South African sailors have qualified one boat for each of the following events. ;Open M = Medal race; OCS =

On course side On the course side is an expression used in sailboat racing to indicate that a boat was on the wrong side of the starting line when the starting signal was given. According to the Sailing Instructions valid for a specific racing event, being on th ...

of the starting line; DSQ = Disqualified; DNF = Did not finish; DNS= Did not start; RDG = Redress given

Shooting

;Men

Swimming

South African swimmers earned qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the A-standard time, and 1 at the B-standard time): ;Men

Taekwondo

Triathlon

Two South African triathletes qualified for the following events.

Volleyball

Beach

Wrestling

;Men's freestyle

References

External links

Official Report of the XXVIII OlympiadSouth African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC)
{{DEFAULTSORT:South Africa At The 2004 Summer Olympics Nations at the 2004 Summer Olympics 2004

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...