Tatjana Smith is Gold and it's All Thanks to Her Community
Paris, France (31 July 2024) – Tatjana Smith, who at the last Olympics and for most of her life was known as Tatjana Schoenmaker, now has two gold medals and one silver in the pool. With the 200m being her favoured event, the 100m breaststroke was going to be a test. Having turned fourth at the wall (50m), many may have thought she wouldn’t medal, but she did and took gold. She is the current Olympic record holder, a record she achieved in the semi-final in Tokyo 2021 (2020 Olympics). The final was the slowest of her races in this event, but she came from behind to claim her spot atop the podium.
She keeps saying that this is her last Olympics and that she just wants to have fun, but surely you don’t train for the Olympics just to have fun? Yet, every time we chat, I can’t help but believe her. It started on Monday night when I watched her watch Pieter Coetze’s race that followed hers. With all her emotions on display, she was literally bouncing as his race went on, willing him to move off the lane ropes in his semi-final and shouting, “That’s his PB!” when the time came up.
Pieter Coetze’s Performance in the 100m BackstrokePieter Coetze once again swam his personal best, breaking his own African record and coming fifth in the final beating his semi-final time. When asked if he thought Tatjana would make it after touching fourth at the halfway point, he had no doubt. He noted that she is a racer and a role model and that he has learnt so much from her.
Building a Legacy and Community SpiritAbove all the medals, it is the fact that Tatjana takes the time to enjoy herself and remains grounded by her community. She came out with a shirt featuring all the people in her community on her back because that is what grounds her. I found out that IOC rules allow you to support your own sport with a certain number of tickets available for each event and that you can request tickets to watch events outside of your discipline. The swimmers have turned up! Candice Lill, the mountain biker, also joined us “journos” to sing our anthem for the first time at these games.
Side note, singing the anthem loudly when all you have is the instrumental really makes you hear yourself, and I think I personally do better with a crowd. Those around me would probably agree, but they were equally “passionate,” so I think it was fine.
So, Tatjana won our first Gold Medal of the Paris 2024 Olympics, and we all get to celebrate because she has shared this moment with all of us. In fact, the whole team seemed relaxed, and I found them taking time engaging with fellow swimming spectators. Both Tatjana (200m Breaststroke) and Pieter (200m Backstroke) have their favoured events to come, with the heats and semi-finals for both athletes on Wednesday, July 31, and finals on Thursday, August 1. Maybe it’s because I am not normally close to it, it feels like there is something about this bunch. It feels like something is building. Not just on the medal table but I think, something that will outlast the games: a community.
Zareena Gaibee will be on the ground in Paris for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics events, sharing her take on the prestigious sporting event, giving exclusive insights into life at the games, and hopefully meeting many of the South Africans in Paris who are competing and supporting. She will be reporting her findings for Good Things Guy, giving readers a glimpse of what flying the flag in Paris is all about.
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