Team SA went past their medals tally from 2022 with three days remaining at the Region 5 Games in Namibia. Three years ago they celebrated earning 113 medals in Lilongwe, Malawi, but another successful day in Swakopmund and Windhoek saw them start the day on 102 and sail past their 2022 tally.
Track and field athletics bagged another nine medals on the final day of action at the Vineta Stadium in Swakopmund. It was a blistering day with several athletes having to be treated for heat complications, but the South Africans kept their cool to up their total to 32.
ATHLETICS (FINALS)
Girls 200m: Isabella Gunter won SILVER in 24.63 with Davida Strong 6th in 25.87 and Ashlynn Norman 6th in 26.04
Girls 1500m: Anoxoloa Mcetwya placed 4th in 4:40.47, while Megan Roome finished 6th in 4:47.45
Girls shot put: Johanna Lamprecht won GOLD with a distance of 13.51m, while Stephane Hook placed 4th with 11.26m
Girls 4x100m: Megan Maree, Isabella Gunter, Ashlynn Norman and Lize van Zyl raced to the GOLD medal in 47.53sec
Girls 4x400m: Karla Bouwer, Chemene Mentz, Anoxolo Mcetywa and Davida Strong won the GOLD medal in 3:51.14
Boys 200m: Jaco van der Westhuyzen won the BRONZE medal
Boys high jump: Taelyn Smith won the GOLD medal with a clearance of 2.20m
Boys javelin: Hanro van den Berg won the GOLD medal with a distance of 53.88m
Boys 4x100m: Enriqiue Bosch, Francois Boschoff, Luke Raffels and Jaco van der Westhuyzen earned the SILVER medal in a time of 40.99sec
Boys 4x400m: De Villiers Lamprecht, Francois Boschoff, Michael Bekker and Aneeq Salie finished 4th in a race won in 3:15.44
ATHLETICS (VISUALLY IMPAIRED)
Boys T13 200m: Khutso Mohlamonyane won the BRONZE medal in 25.88
ATHLETICS (SPECIAL OLYMPICS)
Boys: Phegeleco Mathiba (200m) won SILVER
Boys: Neo Buyambo (200m) won GOLD
BASKETBALL
Team SA (girls) beat Mozambique 61-52
Team SA (boys) lost to Angola 74-35
BOXING
Boys featherweight (57kg), semi-final: Ayabonga Meko vs Mqheli Moyo (Zim)
JUDO
Mixed team final: Levon Gyulinyan, Hlobanisa Bobi, Sinqobile Shongwe, Catalina de Oliveira, Kemp, and Tamsyn-Lee Stead beat Malawi to win BRONZE
NETBALL
Semi-final: Team SA beat Namibia 60-25
TENNIS
SILVER! Girls singles, final: Jessica Schiltz lost to to Sasha Chimedza (Zim)
BRONZE! Girls singles, playoff: Abigayel Vosloo beat Tadiwanashe Mauchi (Zim) 6-1 2-6 6-1
BRONZE! Girls doubles, playoff: Abigayel Vosloo and Milla Kotze beat Kudzai Chapepa and Tanyaradzwa Midzi (Zim) 2-6 6-0 10-7
SILVER! Boys singles, final: Dehav van Deventer lost to Ntungamili Raguin (Botswana) 6-7 retired
GOLD! Boys doubles, final: Simphiwe Ngwenya and Bogdan Mandic beat Mark Nawa and Seabo Saleshado (Botswana) 6-4 6-3
GOLD! Mixed doubles, final: Ngwenya and Kotze added the mixed doubles gold to their list of achievements, winning 7-5, 2-6, 10-4
VOLLEYBALL
Boys: Team SA beat Malawi 3-1 (25-13, 22-25, 25-16, 25-15)
MEDALS TOTAL
59 Gold
40 Silver
30 Bronze
Total 129
MEDALS BY SPORT
49 Swimming
32 Athletics
11 Special Olympics
10 Table tennis
9 Karate
8 Judo
6 Tennis
3 Visually impaired athletics
1 3×3 Basketball
MOST MEDALS (INCL RELAYS)
10 Indiana de Villiers (swimming, 4 gold, 6 silvers)
9 Georgia Els (swimming 4 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze)
8 Jessica Carmody (swimming, 6 gold, 2 silver)
8 Josh Esterhuyzen (swimming, 4 gold, 4 silver)
7 Matthew Pretorius (swimming, 6 gold, 1 bronze)
7 Christian Esterhuyzen (swimming, 3 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)
6 Morgan Cope (swimming, 5 gold, 1 silver)
Photo: Team SA 4x400m by ROGER SEDRES