After a season sparkling with gold wins for Team SA at the Special Olympics, the athletes that made us all so proud have touched down back home, bringing a ‘chest’ of 49 medals with them!
South Africa (28 June, 2023)—Team South Africa recently outdid themselves at the Special Olympics in Berlin, seeing a season sparkling with gold thanks to 22 first-place medals among many other podium moments. In total, the team racked in 49 medals across disciplines, inflating South Africa with pride.
The team touched down back on home soil just yesterday. There, a well-deserved heroes’ welcome awaited them at O.R Tambo International through friends, family, fans, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture as well as other official Departments.
Thank you so much for the warm Welcome Back. 🇿🇦🏅#Berlin2023 #UnbeatableTogether #ChooseToInclude https://t.co/IKbI3t4ClH
— Special Olympics South Africa (@SO_SouthAfrica) June 28, 2023
The season of gold kickstarted with Kamogelo Moncho, who won the Men’s 5000-metre final. Soon after, Team SA athletes followed in his gold footprints across their areas of expertise—from football to swimming.
Beyond the gold, Team SA scored 20 silver medals and 7 bronze against a mighty feat of competitors.
As Team SA shares:
“This year, South Africa competed against a massive contingent of 7000 athletes hailing from 180 countries, highlighting the impressive nature of their performances given the vast number of challengers.”
In total, The Special Olympics saw 64 athletes flying the SA flag high enough to lift a nation’s spirits.
However, over and above the accolades, the athletes brought back another win for our country—what inclusion can mean for a nation! The accomplishment of inspiring over adversity is perhaps the most important medal of all, and we can only imagine how many future Special Olympic stars will go after their dreams thanks to the dreamers and achievers that shone this season.
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