South Africa at the 2012 Summer Paralympics explained

Npc:	RSA
Npcname:	South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee
Games:	Summer Paralympics
Year:	2012
Location:	London
Competitors:	62
Sports:	7
Flagbearer:	Oscar Pistorius^[1]
Rank:	17
Gold:	8
Silver:	12
Bronze:	9
Officials:	45
Appearances:	auto

South Africa competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London with a team of 62 athletes and finished 18th on the medal table.

The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), which is the National Paralympic Committee of South Africa, announced a team of 62 competitors for the 2012 Paralympics on 20 June 2012. The team of 45 men and 17 women were accompanied by 45 managers, coaches and other support staff.^{[2] [3]} SASCOC released the team's schedule on 17 August 2012.^[4]

In a surprise announcement in London on 8 September the South African Minister of Sport and Recreation Fikile Mbalula said that Paralympic medal winners and their coaches would receive the same performance bonuses that their Olympic counterparts were promised. The amounts initially promised were significantly lower. The minister said the original plan was discriminatory.^[5]

Medalists

The following South African competitors won medals at the games.

| style="text-align:left; width:78%; vertical-align:top;"|

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
				30 August
				31 August
				1 September
				1 September
				1 September
				1 September
				1 September
				1 September
				2 September
				2 September
				3 September
				3 September
				4 September
				4 September
				4 September
				5 September
				5 September
				6 September
				6 September
				6 September
				6 September
				7 September
				7 September
				Women's long jump F13	7 September
				8 September
				8 September
				Men's 100 m T37	8 September
				8 September
				8 September

| style="text-align:left; width:22%; vertical-align:top;"|

Medals by sport
Sport				Total
Swimming	4	4	3	11
Athletics	4	7	6	17
Cycling	0	1	0	1
Total	8	12	9	29

Athletics

See main article: Athletics at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.

South African track and field athletes won a combined 17 medals at the Games, four gold, seven silver and six bronze. Sprinter Oscar Pistorius, who carried the nation's flag at the opening ceremony, was the most successful South African athlete winning individual gold in the T44 400 metres, gold in the 4 × 100 metres relay T42–46, setting world records in both, and individual silver in the T44 200 metres. In the 200 metres event Pistorius set a new world record in his heat,^[6] but he was defeated in the final by Brazilian Alan Oliveira. After the race Pistorius raised an issue about the length of Oliveira's blades, he later apologised for the timing of his remarks, but not the content of his complaint. The IPC confirmed the length of Oliveira's blades were proportional to his body and legal, but expressed willingness to engage with Pistorius about the issue.

Men—track

Athlete	Events	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Tshepo Bhebe	400 m T46	52.24	5	did not advance
Dyan Buis	100 m T38	11.11 AF
	200 m T38	22.57 AF	1 Q	22.51 AF
Andrea Dalle Ave	100 m T37	12.18 PB	=7	did not advance
Pieter du Preez	100 m T51	24.21	6
Charl du Toit	100 m T37	12.11	5	did not advance
	800 m T37	2:06.67	6
Arnu Fourie	100 m T44	11.29	1 Q	11.08 AF
	200 m T44	22.57 WR	2 Q	22.49 WR	4
Hilton Langenhoven	200 m T12	22.44 SB	1 Q	22.24 PB	1 Q	22.29	4
	400 m T12	49.86	1 Q	49.42 =PB	1 Q	49.04 PB
Teboho Mokgalagadi	100 m T35	13.07	2 Q	13.10
	200 m T35	27.37 PB	2 Q	27.02 PB	5
Jan Nehro (guide: Duane Fortuin)	5000 m T11	16:09.51 SB	6
Jonathan Ntutu	100 m T13	11.00 AF	1 Q	11.03
	200 m T13	22.40 AF	1 Q	22.37 AF	6
Oscar Pistorius	100 m T44	11.18 SB	1 Q	11.17	4
	200 m T44	21.30 WR	1 Q	21.52
	400 m T44	48.31 SB	1 Q	46.68 PR
Samkelo Radebe	100 m T46	11.53	6	did not advance
Union Sekailwe	200 m T38	24.01 PB	3 Q	23.66 PB	6
	400 m T38	53.28	3 Q	51.97 PB
Marius Stander	400 m T38	53.52	1 Q	53.62	6
Fanie van der Merwe	100 m T37	11.52 =WR	1 Q	11.51 WR
	200 m T37	23.83	2 Q	23.79	6
Oscar Pistorius Arnu Fourie Samkelo Radebe Zivan Smith	4 × 100 m relay T42–46	41.78 WR

Men—field

Athlete	Events	Result	Rank
Dyan Buis	Long jump F37–38	6.48 =WR
Andrea Dalle Ave	Long jump F37–38	6.02 AF	5
Michael Louwrens	Shot put F57–58	13.64
Casper Schutte	Javelin F42	48.12 AF	4
Union Sekailwe	Long jump F37–38	5.10	10
Duane Strydom	Discus F35–36	35.64	8

Women—track

Athlete	Events	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Anrune Liebenberg	200 m T46	25.79 AF	2 Q	25.55 AF
	400 m T46	56.65 PB
Ilse Hayes	100 m T13	12.63	2 Q	12.41
Anika Pretorius	100 m T13	13.11 SB	3 Q	13.50	8

Women—field

Athlete	Events	Result	Rank
Ilse Hayes	Long jump F13	5.70
Zandile Nhlapo	Javelin F33–34&52-53	15.43 SB	8
	Shot put F32–34	6.41 SB	12
Anika Pretorius	Long jump F13	DNS
Zanele Situ	Javelin F54–56	16.22	4
Chenelle van Zyl	Discus F35–36	24.57	6
	Shot put F35–36	7.83	9

Management Team^[2]

• Manager: Dion Bishop
• Coaches: Suzanne Ferreira, Zelda Hansen, Hennie Koekemoer, Karin le Roux, Ampie Louw
• Team assistant: Neels Matthyser
• Helper: Illse du Preez.

Cycling

See main article: Cycling at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.

Road

Athlete	Event	Classification	Final
			Time	Rank
Roxanne Burns	Women's time trial	C4	32:39.24	6
Madre Carinus	Mixed road race	T1/2	1:00:00	10
	Mixed time trial	T1/2	16:54.16	12
Stuart McCreadie	Men's road race	H2	1:43:51	8
	Men's time trial	H2	29:03.51	7
Jaco Nel	Men's road race	C2	DNF
	Men's time trial	C2	28:12.44	14
Ernst van Dyk	Men's road race	H4	2:00:33
	Men's time trial	H4	26:35.95	5
Gerhard Viljoen	Mixed road race	T1/2	48:37	4
	Mixed time trial	T1/2	15:26.41	7

Track

Athlete	Event	Classification	Qualification		Final
			Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Roxanne Burns	Women's individual pursuit	C4	4:40.874	6	did not advance
	Women's time trial	C4/5	42.621	11
Jaco Nel	Men's individual pursuit	C2	4:12.794	10	did not advance
	Men's time trial	C1/2/3	1:12.405	11

Management team^[2]

• Manager: Mike Burns
• Coach: Ricky Kulsen
• Mechanic: Pieter Jansen.

Equestrian

See main article: Equestrian at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.

A team of four represented South Africa in the equestrian competition, one man and three women,^[2] although Paralympic equestrian competition is not divided by gender. The competition consists of three dressage events, a championship test, a freestyle test and a team test. There are five competitor classes: Ia, Ib, II, III and IV, with Ia being the most and IV the least impaired.

Individual

Athlete	Horse	Event	Final
			Result	Rank
Anthony Dawson	Roffelaar	Individual championship test grade II	64.571	18
		Individual freestyle test grade II	63.450	16
Philipa Johnson	Lord Louis	Individual championship test grade IV	65.774	10
		Individual freestyle test grade IV	67.200	12
Marion Milne	Shadow	Individual championship test grade Ib	62.826	13
		Individual freestyle test grade Ib	63.550	13
Wendy Moller	First Lady Van Prins	Individual championship test grade II	66.000	15
		Individual freestyle test grade II	69.900	9

Team

Athlete	Horse	Event	Individual score			Total
					Total	Score	Rank
Anthony Dawson	See above	Team	62.143	64.571	126.714	387.972	14
Philipa Johnson			63.125	65.774	128.899*
Marion Milne			65.818	62.826	128.644*
Wendy Moller			64.429	66.000	130.429*

• Indicates the three best individual scores that count towards the team total.

Management team^[2]

• Manager: Tracey Cumming
• Coach: Chris Haazen
• Vet: Sheelagh Higgerty
• Grooms

Enoch Cele, Anton Chimbuanda, Elizabeth Newsome, Teri Smith

Rowing

See main article: Rowing at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.

Qualification Key: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); R=Repechage

Management^[2]

• Manager/coach: Marco Galeone

Swimming

See main article: Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Natalie du Toit, a veteran of three Paralympics and one Olympics, announced her retirement from competitive swimming after this event.^[7] South Africa's first gold medal came from du Toit winning gold in the women's 100 m butterfly S9.^[8]

Men

Athlete	Event	Heat		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Charl Bouwer	50 m freestyle S13	24.36 AF	2 Q	23.99 AF
	100 m freestyle S13	53.28 PB	1	52.97 AF
	400 m freestyle S13	4:17.74	1 Q	4:14.13	5
	100 m butterfly S13	59.03 AF	2 Q	59.39	7
	100 m backstroke S13	1:01.16	1 Q	59.92 AF
	200 m individual medley SM13	2:15.28	2 Q	2:14.71	4
Achmat Hassiem^[9]	100 m freestyle S10	57.61	7	did not advance
	400 m freestyle S10	4:27.86	6	did not advance
	100 m butterfly S10	58.46 AF	2 Q	57.76 AF
Hendri Herbst	50 m freestyle S11	27.02 AF	2 Q	27.57	7
	100 m freestyle S11	59.64	1 Q	59.60
	400 m freestyle S11	5:08.87 AF	4 Q	4:59.51 AF	7
	100 m backstroke S11	1:14.76	5	did not advance
Kevin Paul	50 m freestyle S10	25.49 AF	4	did not advance
	100 m freestyle S10	55.55 AF	5	did not advance
	400 m freestyle S10	4:19.64 AF	3 Q	4:16.46 AF	7
	100 m breaststrokeSB9	1:06.21 PR	1 Q	1:05.70 AF
	200 m individual medley SM10	2:14.97 AF	1 Q	2:15.26	4
Tadhg Slattery	100 m breaststroke SB5	1:39.55	3 Q	1:39.16	5

Women

Athlete	Event	Heat		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Renette Bloem	50 m freestyle S11	38.00 AF	7	did not advance
	100 m freestyle S11	1:25.72 AF	6	did not advance
	100 m breaststroke SB11	1:40.61	6	did not advance
	200 m individual medley SM11	3:37.13	5	did not advance
Natalie du Toit	50 m freestyle S9	30.16	3 Q	29.84	7
	100 m freestyle S9	1:02.95	1 Q	1:03.45
	400 m freestyle S9	4:32.59	1 Q	4:30.18
	100 m backstroke S9	1:12.52	2 Q	1:12.56	4
	100 m breaststroke SB8	1:30.24	4 Q	1:30.85	7
	100 m butterfly S9	1:09.94	1 Q	1:09.30
	200 m individual medley SM9	2:36.92	1 Q	2:34.22
Emily Gray	100 m freestyle S9	1:08.81	6	did not advance
	400 m freestyle S9	5:00.44	5 Q	4:59.77	7
	100 m backstroke S9	1:15.59	4 Q	1:16.65	7
	200 m individual medley SM9	2:54.03	6	did not advance
Marike Naudé^[10]	50 m freestyle S13	32.07	7	did not advance
	100 m freestyle S13	1:11.45	7	did not advance
	100 m breaststroke SB13	1:46.57	7	did not advance
Shireen Sapiro	50 m freestyle S10	30.87 AF	5	did not advance
	100 m freestyle S10	1:07.42 AF	8	did not advance
	400 m freestyle S10	4:59.54 AF	4 Q	5:01.30	8
	100 m backstroke S10	1:09.46	1 Q	1:09.02 AF
	100 m butterfly S10	DNS		did not advance

Management team^[2]

• Manager: Queeneth Ndlovu
• Coach: Karoly Toros
• Coach/tapper: Karin Hugo
• Tapper/helper: Eeden Meyer

Wheelchair basketball

See main article: Wheelchair basketball at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.

South Africa's men's wheelchair basketball team were in Group A with Australia, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the United States. Competing athletes are given an eight-level-score specific to wheelchair basketball, ranging from 0.5 to 4.5 with lower scores representing a higher degree of disability. The sum score of all players on the court cannot exceed 14.^[11]

Men's tournament

See main article: Wheelchair basketball at the 2012 Summer Paralympics – Men.

Squad list (classification points)	Group stage^[12]		Quarter-final	Semi-final	Final
	Opposition Result	Rank	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
From: Justin Govender (1.0) Siphamandla Gumbi (2.5) Stuart Jellows (4.5) Kyle Louw (1.5) Luvuyo Mbande (3.5) Gift Mooketsi (2.5) Richard Nortje (4.5) Kobus Oeschger (2.5) Marius Papenfus (2.5) Marcus Retief (1.0) Samuel van Niekerk (2.5) Jaco Velloen (4.5)	L 39–93	6	did not advance
	L 50–74
	L 29–91
	L 32–61
	L 54–79

Group stage----------------

11th/12th place match

Management team^[2]

• Manager: Willie Riechert
• Coach: Patrick Fick
• Assistant coach: Shadrack Moepeng
• Technical coach: Franck Belen

Wheelchair tennis

See main article: Wheelchair tennis at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarter-final	Semi-final	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Evans Maripa	Men's singles	W 2–1	L 0–2	did not advance
Sydwell Mathonsi	Men's singles	L 1–2	did not advance
Kgothatso Montjane	Women's singles	W 2–1	L 0–2	did not advance
Lucas Sithole	Quad singles	L 0–2	did not advance
Evans Maripa Sydwell Mathonsi	Men's doubles	L 0–2	did not advance

Management team^[2]

• Manager/coach: Holger Losch
• Assistant coach: Khotso Matshego.

General team management

The following people made-up the team's senior management:^[2]

• Chef de Mission: Pieter Badenhorst
• Project manager: Vinesh Maharaj
• Manager (logistics): Clifford Cobers
• Logistics: Madira Sehlapelo
• Manager (athletes services): Chantelle Jardim
• Athlete services: Dumisani Mtwa
• Chief medical officer: Wayne Derman
• Chief physiotherapist: Grace Hughes
• Doctor: Paul Maphoto
• Physiotherapists: Given Baloyi, Edwin Bodha, Greshne Davids, Shantal Edwards, Dan Ntseke, Evah Ramashala
• Classifier: Tarina van der Stockt

See also

• South Africa at the 2012 Summer Olympics
• South Africa at the Paralympics

References

General

• Web site: Athlete Search Results RSA 2012 . . 2016-04-28 .

Specific

External links

• SASCOC National Paralympic Committee - Official website
• Disability Sports South Africa - Official website
• South African Sports Association for Physically Disabled - Official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Independent Newspapers Online . Oscar to be flag bearer at Paralympics – IOL Sport . IOL.co.za . 2012-08-21 . 2012-09-02.
2. Web site: Team South Africa named for 2012 Paralympics . SASCOC . 2012-06-21 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120626225053/http://www.sascoc.co.za/2012/06/20/team-south-africa-named-for-2012-paralympics/ . 2012-06-26 .
3. Web site: Paralympic ‘dream team’ announced | The New Age Online . Thenewage.co.za . 2012-06-21 . dead . https://archive.today/20130421215340/http://www.thenewage.co.za/54107-10-53-Paralympic_dream_team_announced . 2013-04-21 .
4. Web site: Provisional Paralympic schedule for SA athletes . SASCOC . 2012-08-17 . 2012-08-17.
5. Web site: Paralympics: Medal winners to earn same bonuses as their able-bodied counterparts . The Witness . 2012-09-10 . 2012-09-10.
6. News: Oscar Pistorius: I proved my doubters wrong with world record in 200m heats at Paralympic Games. 2016-04-26. The Telegraph. 2012-09-01. London.
7. Web site: Du Toit happy to retire after Paralympics . SABC . 2012-08-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110459/http://www.sabc.co.za/wps/portal/SABC/SABCARTICLE?id=a88cf5004c801065bc1ebf7dedd74c7c&page_from=sport . 2016-03-04 .
8. Web site: Morgan. Brad. South Africa: Natalie Wins SA's First Paralympic Gold. allafrica.com. southafrica.info. 2016-04-28. 2012-08-31.
9. Web site: BBC News – South Africa shark survivor's hope for Paralympic medal . BBC . 2012-08-22 . 2012-08-28.
10. Web site: IPC Biography – Marike Naudé . International Paralympic Committee . 2014-10-07 . 11 October 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141011111520/http://ipc.infostradasports.com/asp/lib/TheASP.asp?pageid=8937&sportid=-1&personid=867917 . dead .
11. Web site: Wheelchair Basketball. Australian Paralympic Committee. 2016-04-26.
12. Web site: Wheelchair Basketball – Schedule & Results. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Limited. 2012-08-16. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120825013554/http://www.london2012.com/paralympics/wheelchair-basketball/schedule-and-results/. 2012-08-25.