1948 — For the first time a South African Olympic team travels to a Games by air. Most of the boxers got airsick on the trip to London, which took more than 36 hours. Sprinter Daphne Robb, the only woman in the team, slept most of the way on the Skymaster plane, much to the envy of her teammates, including weightlifters Piet Taljaard and Issy Bloomberg, and wrestlers Callie Reitz and Tony Rees who went to bed after lunch. Cyclist Dirk Binneman carried his bicycle, still with some red Cape mud stuck to the tyres, off the plane himself. The boxers recovered quickly and heavyweight John Arthur was handing out sticks of biltong to teammates after lunch. All four of South Africa’s medals came from boxers. Robb went on to win the 100m silver at the next Games in 1952...