REGIONAL - The time for Knysna and Plettenberg Bay's athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games has come to an end, with the last action for our local contingent coming from Leo Davis last Sunday, 1 August.
The Olympics will officially be wrapping up next Sunday, 8 August, and while SA's medal haul so far hasn't quite matched that of previous years, this year's games was one of promise and hope for the future.
Sadly none of the CX-linked Olympians will be returning with medals, but a couple have definitely made their mark. In the past week there has been more participation.
Sam Mvimbi made an appearance in all five of South Africa's Pool B matches, in what was one of SA's best-ever hockey showings at an Olympics despite not making the quarter-finals. Going into the Olympics as the 14th-best team in the world, SA was ranked the second-lowest behind only the hosts, Japan, and the lowest in their group which featured four of the top six countries in the world.
Aimee Canny and Sam Mvimbi.
Despite spirited performances against Great Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium, SA unfortunately came out as the losing side each time. However, they surprised everybody in the fourth game on 29 July, when they defeated Germany 4-3 to set up a chance of obtaining a best-ever finish for SA men's hockey at an Olympics.
All they had to do was beat Canada in their final game and hope the fourth-place team in Pool A finished on no more than four points.
While the latter did indeed happen, SA did not achieve victory over the Canadians, drawing 4-4.
This despite a great goal from Mvimbi in the final quarter that would have secured a 4-3 win if it weren't for Canada's late equaliser. This saw SA finish in 10th place at Tokyo 2020, equalling SA men's best-placed finish at an Olympics.
They also momentarily rose to 10th in the world rankings after beating Germany and are now 12th after their Olympic campaign. Sam's goal was SA's 16th in Tokyo, the most an SA men's side has ever scored at a single Olympics.
Sam Mvimbi (centre) in action for SA against Great Britain.
Photo: International Hockey Federation
Aimee Canny swam in one more race after she was part of the team that set a new African record in the 4x200m freestyle relay. She swam a strong freestyle leg in the women's 4x100m relay on Friday 30 July, where SA finished seventh ahead of Spain.
Sailor Leo Davis, with his dad and Knysna local Greg as his coach, took part in six more races in the Finn men's class. His best finish was in the seventh race where he ended in 12th place. He finished the 10th and last race on Sunday in 19th place. He will be a part of history as a participant in the last time the Finn class ever appears at an Olympic Games.
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