Ekurhuleni - South Africa’s 800m gold medallist Caster Semenya has thanked South Africans for coming out in their numbers to welcome Team South Africa back into the country following the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“I would like to thank South Africans for their support. I love them and I will always do them proud,” said Semenya.
Ordinary South Africans, including school children, turned out in their numbers to welcome their heroes as they arrived at OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday following the conclusion of the Olympics.
“It is nice to come home and receive such a welcome. I’m very happy and hopefully in four years’ time people will fill up OR Tambo like the Dome,” she said, referring to when a local hip hop star performed to a capacity crowd at the Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg.
Despite the chilly weather the nation rallied behind their sports heroes. School children waved the South African flag while others held welcoming placards as they patiently waited for the sportsmen and women to come through the doors of Terminal A at the arrivals section of the airport.
“She made us very proud to be South Africa. We can’t wait to see her,” said one of the many fans of Semenya, as she waited for the airplane carrying the sports stars to arrive.
Singing and dancing in her traditional Pedi garb was Shelly Rammabi who travelled all the way from Mmasehlong, Limpopo – Semenya’s home town - to come and welcome the golden girl home.
“We left at 1am this morning and we arrived here shortly after 5am,” said Rammabi, who described the gold medallist as one of her children.
“I’m very proud of Mokgadi. We support her and we love her. May God bless her,” said Rammabi.
Addressing the crowd that had gathered at the airport, Sports and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula thanked the crowd for turning up in their numbers to show their support for the team.
“Thank you all for coming to welcome these bunch of winners. They are a bunch of winners, we don’t like losers,” said Minister Mbalula to loud cheer.
The Olympians have done the country proud, he said, while acknowledging the role of the doctors and coaches in helping Team SA obtain 10 medals.
“Even those who did not win medals, we saw them fighting for their country,” said Minister Mbalula, adding that South Africa is indeed a winning nation.
The Olympics concluded at the weekend with Team SA clinching two gold medals, six silver medals and two bronze medals.
This was the first time South Africa matched the tally of medals from the 1920 Games in Antwerp and the Olympics in Helsinki in 1952.
In Rio, the gold medals went to athlete Wayde van Niekerk who made world history by breaking the 17-year-old record set by Michael Johnson's mark of 43.18 in the men's 400m.
Semenya won the country’s second gold medal in her 800m race on Saturday.
The Minister expressed pride at the country’s silver medallists, these include swimmer Chad le Clos who pocketed two silver medals, long jumper Luvo Manyonga and javelinist Sunette Viljoen.
Minister Mbalula also expressed joy at Henri Schoeman’s win of a bronze medal.
Prize money
At the ceremony, Minister Mbalula announced that subsequent to the South African Sports Confederation and Olympics Committee’s (SASCOC) promise earlier in the year to award all gold medallists at the Olympics and Paralympic Games R500 000, additional cash prizes will be given.
Of the R500 000, R400 000 will go to the athlete and the remaining R100 000 to the coach.
Silver medallists will receive R200 000 with R50 000 going to their respective coaches, while bronze medal winners will receive R80 000 with their coaches receiving R20 000.
Minister Mbalula said Van Niekerk will receive an additional R150 000 for setting the world record, while Semenya will receive an additional R100 000. Silver medallists will also get an extra R70 000, while bronze winners will get an additional R50 000 each.
“If you talk about the world record and the national record, Caster Semenya and Wayde Van Niekerk that accolade deserves to be recognised. There’s no apology about that. Our athletes have done well,” said Minister Mbalula.
The country is immensely proud of the athletes, added the Minister.
“It’s a moment of glory and celebration, it’s for our country and athletes. It’s a gesture to them to say you have done us proud, it’s not about money it’s about the flag. We thought that it is important to support our athletes,” said Minister Mbalula. – SAnews.gov.za
