Medals prove elusive on Team SA’s ‘Big Wednesday washout’

Reality hit Team SA hard and painfully in Tokyo on Wednesday with no medals coming in on what had once promised to be the most profitable day of the Games.

London 2012 champion Chad le Clos ended fifth in the men’s 200m butterfly, and cyclist Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio placed eighth in the women’s individual time trial.

This was supposed to SA’s Big Wednesday. A month out one could count an unprecedented five medal shots for the country, which had never won more than two on a single day.

That had happened at Barcelona 1992, Rio 2016 and again in Tokyo on Tuesday, courtesy of swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker and surfer Bianca Buitendag, whose final had been scheduled for Wednesday, but was brought forward by a day because of an approaching typhoon.

Jordy Smith had been touted as SA surfing’s podium hope until he withdrew injured. 

The men’s four rowers were supposed to be racing for glory on Wednesday, but instead ended last in the consolation B-final, crossing in 6min 09.85sec, 12.68sec behind winners Poland. Canada were second and Switzerland third.

Two months ago Lawrence Brittain, Kyle Schoonbee, John Smith and Sandro Torrente beat all three of those crews In Lucerne. They even got the better of Romania and Italy, who took the silver and bronze medals behind Australia on Wednesday.

The rowers were a disappointment, as were the Blitzboks, the Rio 2016 bronze medallists, who edged Australia 22-19 and then thumped the US 28-7 to finish fifth on Wednesday. 

Le Clos tried hard to make the 200m butterfly podium on Wednesday morning, going out fast and holding the lead at the halfway mark. But he began tiring and was third turning into the final lap and eventually touched fifth in 1min 54.93sec, half-a-second off the podium.

Hungarian Kristof Milak won in an Olympic record 1:51.25, followed by Japan’s Tomoru Honda (1:53.73) and Federico Burdisso of Italy (1:54.45).

Le Clos, whose bid to become the first South African to win medals from three Games now rests solely on the 100m butterfly, ended a painful fourth in this event at Rio 2016.

The time he clocked five years ago, 1:54.06, would have been good enough for bronze in Tokyo. Even the 1:54.15 he registered for bronze at the 2019 world championships would have got him to the podium.

Le Clos was disappointed afterwards.

“It sucks because my mind and my soul deserve better than what I put out there. It really does. It’s a bit sad.

“I know I’m mentally stronger than all these guys. Sometimes it doesn’t come together. It is what it is. I felt great, walked out there, looking at everyone, feeling excited like I usually do. I wasn’t nervous at all.

“It’s just the body didn’t work, the body didn’t come back, unfortunately.”

Moolman-Pasio also gave it her all over the 22.1km course, crossing the line in 32min 37.60sec, 2:24.11 behind Dutch winner Annemiek van Vleuten and 1:22.48 behind Dutch bronze medallist Anna van der Breggen.

It was a staunch effort by the 35-year-old South African, who ended 13th in Sunday’s 137km road race, 17 seconds off the podium.

“I’m feeling content and proud of what I did,” said Moolman-Pasio, who finished second overall in the recent women’s Giro d’Italia.

“I really gave it my best shot today, I left everything out there, I executed the best time trial I’ve ever executed. The course favoured the bigger girls a bit more on the downhills, that’s where they made up all their time. It is what it is.”

She and Le Clos, 29, lived up to their billings of medal contenders.

Surfer Smith didn’t get a chance to do that, although had he been competing for medals in Tokyo, he too would have competed on what became Terrific Tuesday.

The fifth day of the Olympics turned out to be SA’s Big Wednesday washout, largely because of under-performances by the rowers and rugby players.

By early Wednesday afternoon, Team SA had fired off eight of their medal shots, with one hitting the target — Schoenmaker’s silver. Buitendag’s success came out of the blue.

Schoenmaker was scheduled to launch her second medal campaign later on Wednesday, in the heats of the 200m breaststroke, where she is seeded first.

After the swimming Team SA will rely on track and field and hope golfers can punch above their weight.

Five medals are still on.