Tatjana Smith Claims Silver in 200m Breaststroke at Paris Olympics

Image Source: Tatjana Smith became South Africa’s most-successful Olympian of all time when she won gold in the 100m breaststroke at the Paris Olympics. Image: Anton Geyser / Team SA

Published by Everything ZA News

Paris, France — There was no golden breaststroke double for South Africa’s Tatjana Smith, who finished the 200m final in second place to take the silver medal at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.

Smith had been aiming to become the first athlete since Penny Heyns to win both the 100m and 200m breaststroke gold medals at the same Games. Despite her best efforts, she fell just short, with Kate Douglas of the United States taking top honors. Smith, who had already secured gold in the 100m breaststroke, got off to her usual fast start but was overtaken by Douglas at the 50m mark. From there, Douglas maintained her lead, touching the wall first after the final lap with a time of 2:19.24, setting a new American record. Smith followed closely, finishing with a time of 2:19.60.

South Africa’s other competitor in the final, Kaylene Corbett, finished in seventh place with a time of 2:24.46.

In the men’s 200m final, South Africa’s Pieter Coetze missed out on a bronze medal after a strong start saw him in second place at the 50m mark. However, Coetze began to fall back as Apostolos Christou of Greece surged into the lead after the first turn. In a tightly contested race, Coetze appeared to be holding on to third place but faded towards the end as the rest of the field pushed ahead. He ultimately finished in seventh place, setting an African record with a time of 1:55.60. Hungarian Hubert Kos took the gold, Christou won silver, and the bronze went to Roman Mityukov of Switzerland.