South Africa’s Blitzboks have earned a spot in the semi-finals at the Paris Olympics; Zareena Gaibee was at the rugby, soaking in all the excitement.
Paris, France (26 July 2024) – The boos started before the game kicked off, but boy, did the game kick-off! On Thursday, we beat a team we lost to on Wednesday, but that’s the bounce of the rugby ball—unpredictable and just bonkers.
How we got here
We lost to Ireland, then lost to New Zealand, but we beat Japan by more than 21 points, so we became the eighth quarter-finalist in this, the third edition of Rugby Sevens in the Olympics. Then came the quarter-final, and suddenly we found our voices. The crowd was loud, but the team was louder. We defended eight phases on our line in sevens and went on to beat New Zealand 14-7.
Is it surprising?
Yes and no. The last season was tricky, but they always had at least one good game in them for the Olympics. They suddenly seemed to remember that they were a team. They stopped talking about following the plan and, by all accounts, seemed to follow it.
The conditions were not great. In the game before, it started to mist, but the whole day had been hot and humid. The ball could not have been easy to handle, and there were a number of handling errors, but being able to catch only matters when your teammates are passing. Today, they roared and soared. Phew, what a game!
What is next?
No action today from a sporting perspective, but the Olympic opening ceremony is at 19:30. Then action resumes on Saturday as Team SA takes on host France in the Rugby Sevens semi-finals. It will be intense, but the Blitzboks have given themselves a chance.
Incidentally, I am not 100% sure what the crowd was shouting, but I asked some Spanish people, and they think the crowd was shouting “Jump, jump” in French, so make of that what you will. Despite the crowd really not liking us, they cannot be faulted on decorum, having stopped chanting every time play restarted. So, in their own way, classy.
What else has happened?
Wian Roux shot a 601 in the Men’s Archery ranking, which placed him 63rd of 64 in the field. In a long session six rounds of six arrows each making a total of 72 arrows shot at a distance of 70m in the heat of the day it was certainly quite a feat. Wian, who is cool enough to pull of a bucket hat was positive and upbeat about the whole thing, he was even kind enough to come to us so we didn’t have to fight the sea of Olympic reporters. He noted that it was a great opportunity to just shoot against the best in the world, and it would have mattered little if he placed 50th or 64th, as all the top-ranked players are exceptional.
He will now face off against the second seed, Je Deok Kim from Korea (who scored a season-best 682 in the ranking) at 19:16 in the 1/32 Elimination Round and will have to cause a string of upsets to progress. These rounds are much shorter, with only a maximum of 15 arrows per elimination round. Normally, they shoot in sets of three, with the person that scores the highest combined score of three arrows getting two points. A tie will get you a point, and if you lose none. First person to six wins. Regardless, he just seems confident and content, he noted that winning at the games requires him beating all the top guys anyway, so he may as well start with some of the best and take his shots and see how they go. Such a cool chap, wish him all the best!
What I learnt today:
- Only visa cards work in the competition venues. If you are a Mastercard user, find an ATM.
- Kenya Corner is less of a corner and more of a chorus, and it is just glorious in a stadium.
- Apparently, if you have the correct cases and bags, travelling with archery equipment on a plane is not really a challenge.
- Clicking the “Less walking” option on a map may take longer, but on 18,000 steps taken in a day.
- Always double-check the completion schedule in the morning.
- You don’t have to be stoic in the Press Tribune (The white stand in the middle of the Stade de France; the good seats with the desks) as some very enthusiastic neutral fans decide to be decidedly not neutral fans cheering for Kenya and living the Team SA Rugby Sevens quarter-final with me.
- Apparently you don’t need toilet stalls if you just have public urinals.
Zareena Gaibee will be on the ground in Paris for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics events, sharing her take on the prestigious sporting event, giving exclusive insights into life at the games, and hopefully meeting many of the South Africans in Paris who are competing and supporting. She will be reporting her findings for Good Things Guy, giving readers a glimpse of what flying the flag in Paris is all about.
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