1920 — Track cyclists William Smith and James Walker become double Olympic medallists on the same day at the Antwerp Games, taking silver in the tandem and then bronze in the team pursuit alongside teammates Sammy Goosen and Henry Kaltenbrunn.
1928 — South Africa is denied the chance of winning the Olympic bantamweight boxing gold medal for a third consecutive Games when Harry Isaacs is pushed out of the final in a bizarre turn of events. Isaacs takes on American John Daley in the semifinal at the Amsterdam Games, where several decisions had drawn ire during the competition. The South African is named as the winner of the bout — deservedly so, apparently — but then American fans boo the outcome and storm the ringside area, demanding the decision be reversed. Police tried to control the mob, and eventually it was announced that the wrong decision had been read out and that Daley had actually won. Isaacs went on to take the bronze medal by outpointing Ireland’s Frank Traynor to at least keep South Africa on the Olympic bantamweight podium for a third consecutive time. Daley lost in the final to Italy’s Vittorio Tamagnini.
1963 — The Springboks lose to Australia on home soil for the first time in 10 years, going down 5-9 in the second Test at Newlands. SA were awarded a penalty try, converted by flyhalf Keith Oxlee while the visitors scored a try through winger Jim Boyce, with fullback Terry Casey kicking a penalty and flyhalf Phil Hawthorne a drop.
1965 — Twelve-year-old Karen Muir becomes the youngest world record-holder in swimming as she breaks the 110-yard backstroke global mark at the British championships in Blackpool, England. She clocked 68.7 seconds to smash the previous mark of 69.5 set two weeks earlier by Briton Linda Ludgrove. Kimberley-based Muir, in standard 5 at the time, had taken up swimming three years before to build up her confidence.
1980 — Kork Ballington wins the 250cc race in the British Motorcycle Grand Prix at Silverstone, while countryman Jon Ekerold is second in the 350cc to consolidate his lead in the world championship standings with two GPs remaining.
1996 — The All Blacks fight back from 6-15 down at halftime to beat the Springboks 29-18 at Newlands and secure the inaugural Tri-Nations title undefeated. Both sides scored two tries, but Kiwi flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens kicked two conversions and five penalties. New Zealand and SA went straight into a Test series after this, but this match did not form part of it.
2002 — The Springboks go down 23-30 to the All Blacks in Durban, but the Tri-Nations match is plunged into notoriety by a crazed fan who tackled Irish referee Dave McHugh to the ground, dislocating his shoulder. The match was delayed for 12 minutes and the referee was replaced. All Black centre Aaron Mauger scored a late try to give the visitors victory.
2003 — Skipper Alison Hodgkinson scores 95 on the final fourth day of the SA women’s cricket team’s first Test abroad, against England at Shenley. The match ended in a draw.
2014 — Olympic bronze medallist Bridgitte Hartley finishes third in the women’s K1 500m at the ICF Canoe sprint world championships in Moscow, keeping fourth-placed German star Franziska Weber off the podium by 0.126 sec. Olympic champion Danuta Kozák won in 1 min 49.283, ahead of New Zealand’s K1 200m Olympic gold medallist Lisa Carrington (1:49.79) and Hartley in 1:50.496.
2017 — Wayde van Niekerk’s bid to win the 400m-200m double at the world championships fails as he is beaten by two-hundredths of a second in the shorter sprint in London. Van Niekerk, who had already taken the 400m title, clocked 20.11 for the 200m silver medal behind Turk Ramil Guliyev in 20.09.
2019 — The Springboks scoop the abbreviated Rugby Championship for the first time since Argentina joined the competition, beating the South Americans 46-13 in Salta. Flyhalf Handré Pollard contributed 31 points himself, scoring two of SA’s five tries and kicking three conversions and five penalties.
2019 — The world korfball championships in Durban come to an end with the Netherlands winning their 10th crown in 11 starts. Hosts South Africa finished second-last among the 20 competing nations. Having drawn with Macau 16-16 earlier in the tournament, SA beat them in the play-off for 19th spot 23-9.
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