Paris Olympics 2024: Meet the SA triathlon team

South Africa will be represented by three competitors in the men’s and women’s triathlon competition at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Henri Schoeman and Jamie Riddle will battle for the medals in the men’s division, while Vicky van der Merwe will be Mzansi’s lone women’s entrant.

OVERVIEW

The triathlon race format at the Olympics for both the women’s and men’s events consist of a 1 500m swim, a 40km cycle and a 10km run.

There are no heats; the competition is a single race in which the first athlete to cross the finish line will be the gold medal winner.

A mixed relay event was added at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which saw teams of two men and two women compete over a short‑course triathlon (each athlete performs a triathlon of 300m swim, 8km cycle and a 2km run in a relay format).

All three events will return at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

South Africa will not have a team in the mixed relay event.

A total of 110 athletes are expected to compete at Pont Alexandre III.

DATES

The men’s competition will take place on Tuesday, 30 July with the women’s competition scheduled for a day later.

The mixed competition will be contested on Monday, 5 August.

All three races will take place at 08:00 (SA time).

OLYMPIC HISTORY

Triathlon was added to the Olympic programme at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

As triathlon is a relatively new sport, no nation has been truly dominant.

The 39 medals awarded in the six Games to date have been shared between 16 National Olympic Committees, none of which has won more than three gold medals (Great Britain).

South Africa has won one bronze medal to date, thanks to Henri Schoeman at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

PRIZE MONEY ON OFFER

The South African Sports Confederation, Olympic and Paralympic Committee (Sascoc) has confirmed the prize money on offer for any South African medal winners – as well as their coaches.

– Athletes who win gold will be awarded R400 000, with the coach receiving R100 000

– Silver medalists will earn R200 000 and R50 000 for the coach

– Bronze medal payouts will be R75 000 and R25 000 for the athlete and coach, respectively

TEAM SA TRIATHLON TEAM FOR PARIS OLYMPICS 2024

Men: Henri Schoeman, Jamie Riddle

Women: Vicky van der Merwe

Management: Riana Robertson, Lindsey Parry