Blast from the past: Mulaudzi motors to 800m gold at world champs

Today in SA sports history: August 23

1920 — Bevil Rudd becomes the first South African to win three medals at a single Olympics, helping the men’s 4x400m relay team to the silver medal in Antwerp. That gave Rudd a full set of medals, with the 400m gold and 800m bronze. SA would have to wait 84 years for its next triple medallist at a single Games: Roland Schoeman at Athens 2004. Meanwhile, tennis player Charles Winslow also won a third medal at the Antwerp showpiece, bronze in the men’s singles, to add to the singles and doubles golds he had won at the 1912 Games in Stockholm. Winslow’s countryman, Louis Raymond, won the singles gold in Antwerp.

1924 — The Springboks run in four tries to beat Britain 17-0 in the second Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg and take a 2-0 lead in the four-match series. The captain, centre Pierre Albertyn, winger Kenny Starke and forwards forward Phil Mostert and Nic van Druten all dotted down, with Bennie Osler converting one and adding a penalty.

1960 — Having held a first-innings lead of 264, the SA cricket team settles for a draw in the final fifth Test against England at The Oval. The home side, with centuries from both openers, scored 479/9 declared in their second innings. Set 216 to win, SA reached the end of the match at 97/4 after nearly 30 overs. England won the series 3-0.

1997 — The Springboks run in eight tries as they beat Australia 61-22 at Loftus Versfeld to record their only Tri-Nations win of the season. Percy Montgomery, playing at centre, scored two of SA’s tries, with flyhalf Jannie de Beer slotting six conversions and three penalties.

2000 — Gary Kirsten top-scores with 54, as the Proteas lose to Pakistan by 28 runs in an ODI in Singapore. It was their opening match of a triangular tournament also featuring New Zealand.

2008 — Centre Adrian Jacobs scores two late tries as the Springboks go down 15-27 to Australia in a Tri-Nations match in Durban.

2009 — Mbulaeni Mulaudzi wins the men’s 800m crown at the world championships in Berlin, clocking 1 min 45.29 sec ahead of Kenyan Alfred Kirwa Yego and Yusuf Saad Kamel of Bahrain, who were both credited with 1:45.36. Russian Yuriy Borzakovskiy, who had denied Mulaudzi the Olympic gold in 2004, was fourth.

2014 — Morne Steyn comes on as a substitute to seal a great Springbok fightback over Argentina in Salta. The flyhalf came on with SA trailing this Rugby Championship contest 16-28. Steyn converted tries by wing Cornal Hendricks and flank Marcel Coetzee and then kicked the winning penalty with four minutes remaining to give SA a 33-31 win.

2015 — Farhaan Behardien top-scores with 70 as the Proteas are bowled out for 204 in the second ODI against New Zealand in Potchefstroom. Martin Guptill scored an unbeaten 103 to help the visitors to victory by eight wickets and level the three-match series at 1-1.

2016 — The Proteas draw the weather-hit first Test against New Zealand in Durban, with three full days wiped out.