The South African team returned from the Africa Skate Championship with 23 medals, including seven golds, after a breakthrough performance across sprint and long-distance events.
Egypt (14 May 2026) – South Africa’s roller skating stars are celebrating a breakthrough performance after bringing home an impressive medal haul from the Africa Skate Championship, marking what the federation says is a major step forward for the sport in the country.
In a breakthrough performance for the sport, the South African team collected an incredible 23 medals, including seven gold medals, as the country’s skaters announced themselves on the continental stage in spectacular fashion.
From the explosive 200m sprints to the demanding 5000m points races, the athletes delivered performance after performance that left the federation beaming with pride.
Among the standout stars was Omphemetse, who powered his way to gold in the Senior Men’s 5000m points race after first claiming bronze in the 200m sprint event earlier in the competition. Samuel added to the celebrations by securing silver in the same race, while junior skater Tisetso also enjoyed a memorable championship, turning his bronze medal in the 200m into gold in the Junior Men’s 5000m points race.
For Amy Ketteringham, a member of the federation’s Board of Executives, the success felt especially rewarding because of how much work has gone into building the athletes and growing the sport behind the scenes.
“We are absolutely ecstatic about it. This year we managed to get 23 medals over the four athletes, seven of them being gold medals. That is a massive improvement from the last Africa Championships.”
The results marked a huge turnaround from the team’s previous appearance at the continental championships, where South Africa returned home with only four medals and no gold.
Amy believes much of the improvement comes from the federation’s growing investment in speed skating development.
“There’s been a huge improvement. Their results and times have become much faster and the hard work is really paying off.”
Megan Kleynhans Adds African Title to Growing Laser Run Success
Lailaa Edwards Heads to Morocco With South Africa’s Table Tennis FlagWhat made the achievement even more impressive was the fact that several of the athletes, who mainly specialise in sprint events, still managed to dominate the longer distance races.
Amy explained that speed skating demands not only physical strength, but also discipline, technique and mental toughness.
“If you have good technique and the fitness for it, you can absolutely transition from the short distance to the long distance.”
The competition itself also tested the skaters’ resilience after scheduling disruptions forced many races that were meant to happen over two days into one packed day of competition.
“They raced a lot. It shows a lot of mental fortitude to keep getting back onto the starting line and competing over and over again.”
While roller skating may still be a relatively small sport in South Africa, Amy hopes performances like these will help more people appreciate just how demanding and exciting speed skating can be.
“If people want to imagine what speed skating is, you need to think about cycling and running and squish the two together.”
With the South African National Championships coming up in July and the possibility of qualifying for the World Skate Games later this year, the team now has even more to look forward to.
View this post on Instagram
by 
