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Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Sport Olympics

SA’s Tatjana Smith impresses as she begins Olympic title defence in Paris

Lunga Biyela|Published

South Africa's Tatjana Smith, seen here during the Tokyo games, made an impressive start to her Paris Olympics campaign on Sunday FILE - South Africa's Tatjana Smith, seen here during the Tokyo games, made an impressive start to her Paris Olympics campaign on Sunday. Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP

South African swimming icon Tatjana Smith made a brilliant start to her Paris Olympics campaign on Sunday when she qualified for the semi-finals by winning her heat.

Smith, the Olympic record holder, won her women’s 100m breaststroke heat in a time of 01:05:00 as she looked to retain the title she won in Tokyo in 2021.

Now that the first race was out of the way to settle the nerves, Smith was happy she was able to put on a good performance.

“In the first race, you just want to get into the water, get the feel of racing,” she said on Sunday after her race. “Obviously it’s not as easy as you have to try and qualify for the semis.”

In 2021, the Tokyo Olympics were held in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning there were very few spectators in the crowds during the games.

So, it was natural that Smith enjoyed competing in front of fans this time around in Paris.

“I’m very happy with that. It was so nice to have a crowd, compared to Tokyo, so, it’s a lot of new things that are happening, but I’m just taking in the experience as we go.”

Smith will be hoping to advance to the final when she competes in the semi-finals on Monday. She will be going head-to-head with American Lilly King, the current world record holder in the women’s 100m breaststroke.

The semi-finals are scheduled to take place at 8.57pm on Monday evening.

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