| South Africa at the Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC code | RSA |
| NOC | South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee |
| Website | www |
| Medals Ranked 37th |
|
| Summer appearances | |
| Winter appearances | |
South Africa first participated at theOlympic Games in 1904, and sent athletes to compete in everySummer Olympic Games until 1960. After the passage ofUnited Nations General Assembly Resolution 1761 in 1962 in response to South Africa's policy ofapartheid, the nationwas barred from the Games.After thenegotiations to end apartheid in South Africa commenced in 1990, the nation re-joined the Olympic movement. TheSouth African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee was created in 1991, and South Africa returned to the Games at the1992 Summer Olympics (and the1992 Summer Paralympics). South Africa also participated in theWinter Olympic Games in 1960, and since 1994.South African athletes have won a total of 95 medals, withathletics,boxing, andswimming as the top medal-producing sports.
_and_Jan_Mashiani_of_the_Tswana_tribe_of_South_Africa.jpg)
South African athletes first participated in the1904 Summer Olympics inSt. Louis, when few foreign athletes arrived and the organisers invited participants of the adjacent1904 World's Fair to compete.[2] GeneralPiet Cronjé,Len Taunyane, andJan Mashiani, allBoer War veterans who had been taken prisoner by the British atSt. Helena after theBattle of Paardeberg and had reenacted battle scenes at the fair, participated in themen's marathon.[2]Len Taunyane andJan 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 ofapartheid.[2]
Although the fourBritish colonies ofCape of Good Hope,Natal,Transvaal, andOrange River did not form theUnion of South Africa until 1910, they fielded a combined South Africa team at the1908 Summer Olympics inLondon, whereReggie Walker won its firstgold medal.[2] The first South African woman in the Olympics was swimmerBarbara Nash in1920, and the first women to win medals were the1928 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay quartet, who came third.[2] The South African Olympic and Empire Games Association was awarded the1934 British Empire Games inJohannesburg but backed out when it became evident that they would have to allowa team from India to compete.[2]
South Africa first entered theWinter Olympics in1960, andthat summer's games in Rome would be its last till the end of apartheid.[2] 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 theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1970.
The nonracial Interim National Olympic Committee of South Africa (nowSouth African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee) was founded in 1991 during thetransition to multiracial equality and affiliated to the IOC months later. The country returnedat the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.[2]
| 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[Art] | 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 |
| 1964–1988 | excluded | |||||
 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 | |||||
| 2032 Brisbane | ||||||
| Total (21/30) | 1,519 | 28 | 36 | 31 | 95 | 37 |
| Games | Athletes | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 Squaw Valley | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1964–1988 | excluded | |||||
 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 Milano Cortina | future event | |||||
| 2030 French Alps | ||||||
| 2034 Salt Lake City | ||||||
| Total (7/24) | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Athletics | 9 | 15 | 6 | 30 |
 Swimming | 8 | 8 | 6 | 22 |
 Boxing | 6 | 4 | 9 | 19 |
 Tennis | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
 Cycling | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 |
 Rowing | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
 Shooting | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Surfing | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Rugby | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
 Canoeing | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Triathlon | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (11 entries) | 28 | 36 | 31 | 95 |
In addition to its accomplishments in sport, South Africa has also earned recognition in Olympicart competitions—one of the threenon-sports events once included in the Olympic Games. The country won a total of two art competition medals (1 silver, and 1 bronze), both at the1948 Summer Olympics.[4] These events were part of the official Olympic program in seven Summer Games, from 1912 to 1948. In 1952, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) formally discontinued all non-sport events (including art competitions), as well as awards for feats (such asalpinism andaeronautics). These were subsequently removed from official national medal counts.[6][nb 1]
| Medal | Name | Games | Event | Piece |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Silver | Ernst van Heerden | 1948 London | Literature, Lyric works | "Six Poems"[7] |
 Bronze | Walter Battiss | 1948 London | Painting, Graphic Arts | "Seaside Sport"[8] |
| |
_pictogram.svg)
_pictogram.svg)
