Chad and Cameron turn SA into the Land of Gold

President Jacob Zuma has called South Africa the “Land of Gold” after the outstanding achievements of swimmers Cameron van der Burgh and Chad Le Clos.

In a media statement yesterday, he said:

The South African nation is today filled with pride and joy, after one of our finest and youngest athletes, Chad Le Clos from Durban, won the second gold medal for Team South Africa in the men’s swimming 200 metre butterfly race at the London Olympics 2012 yesterday.

Our Chad and all of us were overcome with emotion as he stood majestically to receive his medal to the moving sound of our national anthem.

This victory comes just after swimmer Cameron van der Burgh won the first gold medal in the men’s 100 metre breaststroke competition.

We know it is early days in the games, but with two gold medals already our country is counted among the best sporting nations in the world.

The whole nation is proud of these athletes and we would like to congratulate both the athletes and Team South Africa for the achievements this far. A proud nation is behind you all the way.

So to the rainbow team, keep the medals coming, keep the gold coming!

As Zuma says, we were all overcome with emotion when Chad received his medal – beating his idol Michael Phelps – but nobody as much as Chad’s own father who has captured the hearts of not just this nation, but the entire world, with his outburst of joy, love and pride for his son during a BBC interview just minutes after his son’s momentous win. You can watch the video here.