When will Tatjana swim in 200m breaststroke Olympic final?
Tatjana Smith will go in search of a historic medal when she competes in another Olympic final on Thursday night, this time in her favourite 200m breaststroke event.
Smith was widely expected to win her semi-final, but on Wednesday she finished just behind surprise winner Kate Douglass. Nevertheless, there were various strategies and recovery management plans in place for Tatjana as she comfortably booked her place in the Olympic final.
Certainly if Smith can grab a gold medal in Thursday night’s women’s 200m breaststroke final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, she would almost certainly become South Africa’s greatest-ever Olympian.
Any top three placing would take her overall medals tally to four – while if she wins on Thursday night, she would have the tally of three golds and a silver. In this scenario, although she would join Chad le Clos on four medals, no other Olympian would boast her ‘weight’ of medals in terms of golds and silvers.
So when will Tatjana swim in 200m breaststroke Olympic final?
It should certainly not be forgotten that Smith will be joined in the final by extremely talented Kaylene Corbett, who impressively finished second in the first semi-final.
The highly anticipated final is expected to take place just after 21:00 on Thursday, 1 August, with SuperSport expecting the swimmers to hit the water at about 21:11 – give or take a few minutes.
Chad le Clos soon in action
Meanwhile, there will also be plenty of attention on Le Clos when he takes part in the 100m butterfly event this year, and he will be in action on Friday, 2 August, in heat two – which will get under way around 11am (SA time).
“As a boy I never dreamed of going to the Olympic Games,” he told the Team SA website as he touched on his emotions at what will be his final Olympics.
“To be here representing the country again, wearing the green and gold, honestly, there’s no higher honour than that for me. In London I was such a green boy. Then came Rio and that was followed by the Covid Olympics. Now, it’s Paris. It’s bittersweet though. I suffered a shoulder tear four weeks ago when a kid jumped on me when I was swimming and my shoulder popped out. It will have recovered but the inflammation and damage done has affected me. Three weeks ago I was crying every day.
“I’ll be devastated if I can’t compete … it will be one of the worst moments in my career,” he says. “I’ve put so much into it. I’m now 32, a ballie, a pensioner in swimming terms. My body feels like it’s 40. I’ve bled for this sport, bled for my country. I’m a patriot. I’ve been written off so many times, but I can assure you, if my shoulder holds up, I’ll make that final and then watch out. I’m a dog. I don’t crumble under the lights or pressure. I’ll be in the mix. Quote me on that.
“I’m still good, I’m still good enough to win races, titles and medals. Whether it happens here we’ll see. If not it will happen going forward. I’m still leaving it all out here. I moved to Germany to prepare for these Olympics. With respect, I don’t like the place. It’s not for me, do you know what I mean? I’m a South African, I’m a patriot. I thrive when surrounded by South Africans.”
