Minister Nathi Mthethwa congratulates Tatjana Schoenmaker who scooped SA’s first gold medal of the Tokyo Games as she won the women’s 200m breaststroke in a world record on Friday morning.
 
The 24-year-old South African smashed the 2:19.11 world record held by Denmark’s Rikke Moller Pedersen since 2013. With a 2min 18.95sec mark, Schoenmaker has achieved the first individual world record of this gala.
 
Schoenmaker was the top seed in the 200m breaststroke going into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and upon achieving this momentous feat had this to say, “I would never have even thought. This is my first Olympics so for me to get a lane into the final, then everyone stands a chance. That’s the thing I’ve always believed in. So I’ve exceeded, or God has exceeded, all my expectations so I couldn’t be happier.”
 
Upon learning of this news Minister Mthethwa said, “We are incredibly proud of Ms Schoenmaker who has proven beyond a shadow of doubt that South Africa is indeed a nation of winners. She set the pace from the onset of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by becoming the first female South African swimmer to win an Olympic medal in 21 years. She is a true ambassador of the nation and a living example that hard work and dedication truly pay off.”
 
Schoenmaker is the 10th South African to have won multiple medals at single Games, and the fourth since readmission, after Heyns, Schoeman (Athens 2004) and Le Clos (London 2012 and Rio 2016).