Bianca Buitendag: South Africa win second Tokyo Olympic SILVER medal as its sole competitor in surfing finishes in second place.
Tokyo, Japan (27 July 2021) – Bianca Buitendag, the rising surfer from South Africa, won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. She was up against four-time American world champion Carissa Moore.
It’s South Africa’s second medal in total.
The victory took place at 09:31 CAT this morning. After an intense competition where the two women gave it their all, the results have made it out.
This comes shortly after her stunning win against Stephanie Gilmore, the seven-time world champion from Australia with a noteworthy 7.10 in the first wave and 6.83 in the second wave to total 13.93, beating Gilmore by 3.93 points; Buitendag continued her successful string of victory, beating Portugal’s Yolanda Hopkins 9.50 to 5.46 in her quarter-finals.
Buitendag was ranked as high as world No.4 in 2014 but hasn’t had full-time status since 2016 and secured Olympic qualification through the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games.
Buitendag spent her formative years in Victoria Bay, a picturesque cove hidden along the West Cape between Jeffreys Bay and Cape Town.
The South African swim sensation Tatjana Schoenmaker won South Africa’s first silver medal this morning in the Women’s 100-meter breaststroke final.
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