Five fascinating facts about iconic South African Olympian Tatjana Smith

The most impressive fact about Paris 2024 Olympics star Tatjana Smith is that she holds the title of the most decorated Olympian in South African history — but there’s more to her story.

Tatjana Smith fact file

Info via olympics.com’s official website.

• Tatjana started swimming at age five and began competing at eight. She joined Tuks Sport School at 15.
• Missed qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games in the 200m breaststroke by 0.01 seconds (one-hundredth of a second).
• became Olympic 200m breaststroke champion at Tokyo 2020, setting a then-world record of 2:18.95 and becoming the fifth South African to win an individual Olympic swimming title (Joan Harrison 1952, Penny Heynes 1996, Cameron van der Burgh 2012, Chad le Clos 2012).
• On 04 November 2023, she married Joel Smith in Robertson, South Africa. Smith’s brother-in-law is South African rugby union captain and icon Siya Kolisi, World Cup winner in 2019 and 2023.
• Smith regards Usain Bolt, Penny Heyns, Chad le Clos and Michael Phelps as her sporting heroes. These four legends have 37 Olympic golds between them.

Why does Tatjana swim?

“My love for swimming makes me want to get up every morning and go to training. It’s like my second home. Being fortunate enough to travel the world doing what I love, seeing new places and meeting new people and sports heroes, motivates me a lot. The most important thing every young swimmer should realise is that nothing is impossible. They only need to believe and be prepared to put in the long and hard hours.”

Disappointment is part and parcel of elite sport

Reflecting on missing qualification for the 200m breaststroke in Rio, Smith was typically upbeat about one of the biggest setbacks in her professional career.

“2016 was a bit of a disappointment, but I knew everything happens for a reason. I wasn’t ready at that time. We got our hopes up and then I kind of got a dip, creating all that expectation. My fall was quite big, and I had to try and fall in love with the sport again.

“Looking back, maybe I needed to go through that disappointment to take me where I was in 2021 – more of a confident swimmer.” 

And her philosophy?

“Focus on one’s improvement and one’s own goals rather than comparing oneself to others. If you’re constantly improving, you’ll eventually get to the top. For me, it was always about improving my time.”

Tebogo put Botswana on the map at the Paris 2024 Olympics

21-year-old Letsile Tebogo produced the run of his life to claim gold in a much-anticipated 200m event. He was the fastest qualifier and the only man to go under 20 seconds in the semi-finals, so he was certainly expected to medal. However, 100m champion and American superstar Noah Lyles was the overwhelming favourite to claim gold alongside his compatriot Kenny Bednarek. However, Tebogo ripped up the script and stormed to the line first in 19.46 seconds ahead of Bednarek in 19.62 and Lyles in 19.70. Tebogo is the first African man to win this event and it’s the first gold medal in Botswana’s history at the Olympic Games. Touchingly, Tebogo revealed the birthdate of his late mother on his running shoes in the moments after claiming what must have been a truly emotional victory.

Tebogo followed this trailblazing success up with gold at a recent Diamond League meeting in Switzerland. He eased across the line in 19.64 seconds for another win. He’s in the form of his life.