Tatjana Smith confirms retirement after silver medal, becoming SA's ...

In her last appearance at the Olympics, Tatjana Smith added another wonderful chapter to her impressive canon. 

It wasn’t quite the fairytale ending she envisaged by retaining her 200m breaststroke Olympic gold medal, as Smith took the silver behind the US’s Kate Douglass in a race of high quality. 

But it was a thrilling race in which Smith gave everything while ultimately doing it with a smile. After the race, she confirmed it was her last. 

It was a fitting end to a fine career. The grit and fight she showed in defence of her 200m breaststroke crown epitomised her legacy as much, if not more, than her impressive four Olympic medals. 

Douglass touched the wall in 2:19.24 at La Defense Arena, 0.36 seconds ahead of Smith to win the Paris 2024 gold medal. 

“The goal for the final was to execute the race as well as possible,” Smith said afterwards. 

“In the semifinal [which she also narrowly lost to Douglass] I tried to rush the stroke in the last 20 metres because it was an intense battle we were fighting, and I lost my stroke there. 

“So, the only goal for the final was to stay calm, carry on with my stroke and be confident and the results would play out as they should. 

“It [the final] was an amazing battle and it is great to see new people coming through. I’d never raced against Kate in an Olympic final. I love competing. 

“I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end off my career, in a very tough battle.” 

For Smith, Paris 2024 was a reversal of her achievements in Tokyo where she won the 200m breaststroke and took silver in the 100m breaststroke. 

This year, Smith landed a wonderful gold in the 100m, but missed out on her favoured event thanks to a resurgent Douglass, who was the bronze medallist in the 200m individual medley in Tokyo. 

Douglass took the gold thanks, in part, to her brilliant work off the wall, where she took about half a body length out of Smith on each of the three turns. 

Each time, until the last lap, Smith fought back to get within centimetres of the lead, only to see it swallowed up in a matter of moments. In the end, she ran out of pool to close the gap on the final lap. Had the race been 10m longer there might have been a different outcome — such are the margins at elite level. 

After going through 100m in world record pace, both the favourites slowed slightly in the second half of the race but were well clear of the chasing field, with bronze medallist Tes Schouten 1.81 seconds behind Douglass. 

South Africa’s Kaylene Corbett was seventh, with Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Lilly King finishing eighth. 

Earlier, South Africa’s Pieter Coetze finished seventh in the men’s 200m backstroke final. 

Smith’s silver medal brought her tally to four Olympic medals — two gold and two silver — which makes her South Africa’s most successful Olympian of all time. 

Fellow swimmer Chad le Clos also has four Olympic medals — one gold and three silver — while swimmer Penny Heyns and athlete Caster Semenya won two golds apiece. 

Le Clos, who will compete in the 100m butterfly on Friday, still has an outside chance of adding to his medal tally. 

Although Smith was her usual smiling self at the end of the race, and congratulated Douglass warmly, this defeat will sting because she was favourite to win. It was also her last chance to become the first South African to win three Olympic gold medals in a career. 

She also fell short of her own Olympic record, set in Tokyo three years ago. But when she does sit back and reflect, it will be with massive satisfaction. 

Smith has won more than half of South Africa’s medals — four out of seven — at the last two Olympics. That might change in the coming days if other South African athletes win medals, but it underlines her greatness that she has almost single-handedly carried the burden of winning medals for South Africa. 

“It’s never been about that [medals],” said Smith. “Achievements fall away but you want to be remembered for who you are. I hope I’m remembered for bringing people joy. 

“Swimming is just a season in my life. There is so much more than swimming and I’m excited to live life.” DM

Read more: Olympic Games Paris 2024