The World Transplant Games team is collecting medals at an incredible rate; already the team has a collection of gold, silver and bronze medals to bring home.
Perth, Australia (18 April 2023) – The World Transplant Games are underway and already the South Africans are flying the flag high! Susan Burri became the first South African to earn a medal at the 2023 games in Perth. Since then, the incredible team has been busy earning gold, silver and bronze medals to add to the count!
The games are taking place in Perth, Australia from the 15th of April to the 22nd of April 2023. 40 South African athletes are in attendance and working towards making us all proud!
The team has been incredible! We have seen several updates since yesterday, listing a bunch of medals.
Alta Withers, Byron Powell and Paul Lombard earned a silver for South Africa in the cycling event. Alta went on to earn an individual bronze in her event as well.
The golfing team had an equally successful day, earning Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in the three different decisions. They are not done yet as the individual tournament takes place on the 19th of April, 2023.
Lastly, the squash team added several medals to the tally. SATSA was very proud of the team’s efforts at the games.
“A brilliant performance by the SA Transplant Squash players, winning a Gold, two Silver and a Bronze medals respectively in their age categories at the World Transplant Games in Perth today. Well done guys”
The games are an opportunity for transplanted athletes to show their gratitude towards living donors and families of deceased donors. They have the opportunity to compete in sports which they would otherwise not get the chance to do on a professional stage, due to medications taken after transplants.
Over 1500 athletes are competing from around the world in a total of 13 sporting codes. These include cycling, the 5km road race, badminton, table tennis and regular tennis, squash, golf, ten-pin-bowling, petanque, darts, lawn bowls, swimming, track and field, and athletics.
There are still a few days left so stay tuned for more updates tomorrow. We are so so proud of you, team!
by 