THE SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), is relying on swimming and rugby to deliver the medals at the Rio Olympics next month.
Athletics produced one medal with SA golden girl, Caster Semenya, bagging silver in the women’s 800m final at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
But athletes are in top form going into the biggest sporting event in the world.
The Springbok Sevens will be making their debut at Games, but they’re expected to contribute to the medal tally.
Sascoc president, Gideon Sam, has set a target of 10 medals.
Swimming stars, Chad le Clos and Cameron Van der Burg, are expected to shine in the pool.
Sam said: “You know that with Chad and Van der Burg red as hot in the pool you have something in the bag already. We expect a lot from swimming as we always do. The rugby is new in the Games, but we expect a medal that is why we have targeted 10 medals.”
The rugby competition will start from 5-11 August, while the swimming events will begin on 6 and end on 12 August and the athletics track and field events will take place from 12-21 August.
Blitzbokke star, Rosco Specman, believes they will win Group B where they are drawn against Australia, France and Spain.
Specman, who is one of the stars in the 12 men squad coached by Neil Powell, said the Blitzbokke are setting their eyes on the gold medal.
Specman said: “It’s not going to be easy, but we’re confident we can secure the gold medal. The preparations have been great and the team is ready to shine.”
Le Clos said: “I have a feeling this is my Olympics. I want to be the greatest SA swimmer of all time and to achieve that I must perform.”
