Tatjana Smith poses with the silver medal after finishing second in the women’s 200m breaststroke final at the Paris Olympic Games. Picture: Anton Geyser / Team SA
Team South Africa’s superstar Tatjana Smith has retired from swimming moments after becoming the country’s most decorated Olympian when she won the silver medal in a thrilling women’s 200m breaststroke race.
Smith was gunning for an historic breaststroke double after winning the gold medal in the 100m on Monday. But she had to settle for second place after the United States’ Kate Douglas produced a sensational swim to win the 200m gold in a new national record.
Smith moved level with Chad le Clos for most medals won as an Olympian, but trumps the veteran men’s swimmer in terms of weight of medals.
Le Clos has won one gold and three silvers, while Smith has two gold and two silvers after winning gold in the 200m and silver in the 100m breaststroke events in Tokyo oin 2021.
Her gold medal in the 100m in Paris also put her level with swimmer Penny Heyns and track star Caster Semenya for most golds won at an Olympics.
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🇿🇦 #TeamSA's Tatjana Smith announces her retirement following her impressive run at the #Olympics #Paris2024!#SABCSportOlympics pic.twitter.com/hpeFqMfkfU
“It was incredible. That’s what sport is about – it’s that battle,” Smith said after the race.
“Obviously everybody wants to touch the wall first, but I’m just as happy to get the silver medal because I love that competitiveness.
“I’m so grateful that I still get to walk away with a medal. I’m walking away from the Olympics with two medals, I’m a double Olympian so I can’t complain.
“I'm officially done. It's a relief, but I definitely know I'm probably, tomorrow, going to miss it already. It's been a big part of my life, it's 22 years that I've been swimming and it's been a big part of my family's life and everything.”
Kaylene Corbett finished in seventh place in the same 200m breaststroke final in a time of 2:24.46 and has already set her sights on the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
“There’s a lot to improve on from that race. Sometimes sport just is sport and you don't get everything right in a race, so I’m definitely a little bit disappointed in that race, but at the same time you can't be disappointed because this is where God placed you tonight and I know there's a blessing waiting for me at the end.
“I definitely saw Tatjana battle it out with Kate, but you know that Tatiana doesn't give up and she's always fighting.
“I think the two of us had some serious challenges coming off of Tokyo into 2024. We had different challenges, but I can definitely speak for myself in this regard that I’m a much stronger person in comparison to 2021 in Tokyo.
“I think that this time around I just feel very proud of myself in what I've achieved and being able to come to another Olympic Games. I mean, if I had to tell eight-year-old Kaylene that she's a double Olympian and she made two finals and she’s top eight in the world, that's incredible, so I'm very happy.”
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