From gymnast to world’s first wheelchair-bound Olympic photographer: Johann Meintjes

Former gymnast-turned-Olympic photographer Johann Meintjes has reflected on his “biggest highlight” — being the first photographer in a wheelchair to cover the Olympic Games in Paris early this year.

Meintjes’ life took a drastic turn 42 years ago when a spinal cord injury during a gymnastics competition left him a wheelchair-bound paraplegic.

“The only thing I could remember was that I went too low and landed on my neck,” he said in the SuperSport series Real World Champions.

“I was lying there when everyone came towards me and stood about me, and since then, I have been in a wheelchair.

“That was a big shock for me, but I needed to convince myself that even if I’m in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, I need to be positive.”

Despite his injury, Meintjes refused to let his passion for sport die. He transitioned into teaching, coaching and sports photography.

“I started thinking about how to get back into teaching. Those children were magnificent. They wanted to help me; they wanted to push me about in the wheelchair.

“I was a big sportsman, and I enjoyed that for my whole life. I had to do something at the school in case I couldn’t coach rugby, so I had to think of other ways to get the children involved in different activities.

“Then I started the photography club. I brought in a lot of professional photographers from outside the school to teach the children. By doing that, I had to improve my level of photography. I did everything with the children, and I learnt quite a lot there.”

Eventually, he became the first accredited wheelchair photographer to cover the Olympic Games at the 2024 Games in Paris.

“The first time you get into these events and see what a big event it is ... I felt a bit overwhelmed at the gymnastics because I was a gymnast, but it was a significant moment in my life to be at the Olympics and be involved in gymnastics.

“Getting involved in sport again, even in photography, is very nice. Even as a photographer; the Olympics was the biggest highlight of my life.”

Meintjes captured some of the iconic pictures of SA athletes at the Paris Olympics, including gold medallist swimmer Tatjana Smith, the 4x100m men’s relay, and what he considered his best shot, gymnast Caitlin Rooskrantz on the uneven bars.

Meintjes’ inspiring story is part of SuperSport’s Real World Champions series, airing on SuperSport’s YouTube channel and on SuperSport Variety 4 (DStv channel 209) from December 9 until February 3.

SuperSport invites viewers to share stories of unsung heroes in their communities to realworldchamps@supersport.com before March 31, 2025.

“We are really excited to launch this campaign as Your World of Champions because it is a magnificent way to acknowledge vast contributors to the SA sporting fraternity,” said SuperSport CEO Rendani Ramovha.