Wednesday, 23rd July, marks exactly one year to go until the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. These Games were last held in the Scottish city in 2014. The Games will feature a 10-sport programme, including six fully integrated Para Sports, hosted in four venues.
The sports to be represented are: 3×3 Basketball and 3×3 Wheelchair Basketball, Artistic Gymnastics, Athletics and Para Athletics, Bowls and Para Bowls, Boxing, Cycling and Para Cycling, Judo, Netball, Swimming and Para Swimming and Weightlifting and Para Powerlifting.
Below is a short refresher as to how Team SA has fared at the Commonwealth Games, since returning from isolation in 1994.
BIRMINGHAM 2022
Chad le Clos’ silver medal in the 200m butterfly increased his total at the Commonwealth Games to 18, which is the joint most of any male athlete. The overall record is 20 by Australian swimmer Emma McKeon. Lara van Niekerk was South Africa’s most successful athlete in Birmingham, with a gold medal in both the 50m breaststroke and 100m breaststroke.
Medals: 7 gold 9 silver 11 bronze. Total 27
GOLD COAST 2018
These will be remembered as the Games where Tatjana Smith (Schoenmaker) announced her arrival. She won gold in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke and from there went on to win medals in both events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Elsewhere, veterans Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh (swimming) and Akani Simbine (pictured) and Caster Semenya (athletics) also won gold.
Medals: 13 gold 11 silver 13 bronze. Total 37
GLASGOW 2014
A successful haul of 40 medals – the second largest in the country’s Games history – came off the back of 13 gold medals spread across five sports. Leading the way was lawn bowls with five golds, with three each from swimming and one each from judo and rugby sevens. Swimmer Chad le Clos won two golds for the biggest individual return.
Medals: 13 gold 10 silver 17 bronze. Total 40
DELHI 2010
Chad le Clos’ gold in the 200m butterfly singled him out as an emerging star and two years later he beat the great Michael Phelps to gold in the London Olympics. Para-swimmer Natalie du Toit won three more gold medals to add to the two each from Melbourne and Manchester and helped ensure that seven of the 12 gold medals at these Games were in the pool.
Medals: 12 gold 11 silver 10 bronze. Total 33
MELBOURNE 2006
The “Awesome Foursome” of the Athens 2004 Olympics was back, with Gerhard Zandberg replacing Darian Townsend., The 4x100m freestyle quartet beat Australia in a Games record time to win gold, while Roland Schoeman collected three golds in the pool and para-swimmer Natalie du Toit, who was going to become the third amputee ever to qualify for the Olympics two years later, taking two golds. Boxing won its last gold for Team SA at the Games.
Medals: 12 gold 13 silver 13 bronze. Total 38
MANCHESTER 2002
Para-swimmer Natalie du Toit won the first two of what would be seven Commonwealth Games gold in the pool for her. She and Roland Schoeman earned swimming gold, while the other golds came in track and field. One of them was star 800m athlete Mbulaeni Mulaudzi who was later tragically killed in a car accident in 2014. Eleven different sports – including wheelchair table tennis – earned medals for Team SA.
Medals: 9 gold 20 silver 17 bronze. Total 46
KUALA LUMPUR 1998
The first Games to introduce yellow into the logo and also the Games where South Africa won men’s cricket gold (50 overs) the last time it was hosted at the Games. A star-studded Team SA beat Australia to the gold medal. Other sports to collect gold were athletics, lawn bowls, shooting and gymnastics.
Medals: 10 gold 14 silver 12 bronze. Total 36
VICTORIA 1994
These were the first Games South Africa attended after a 36-year break of apartheid-enforced isolation. Two gold medals were won, both in lawn bowls (mens and women’s Fours), while domestic stars Elana Meyer, Hezekiel Sepeng and Charmaine Weavers took silver in track and field. Team SA placed 12th on the table, which is their lowest post-isolation finish so far.
Medals: 2 gold 4 silver 5 bronze. Total 11
