By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Twice Olympic champion Tatjana Smith won the 100 metres breaststroke on Monday and the 27-year-old looks well set for the double after topping the time charts in the 200m heats.
She is defending the crown she claimed in Tokyo, where she said “life really changed” for her.
Smith won the 200 gold and the 100 silver in Tokyo, but set Olympic records in both events which shot her to superstardom, putting added pressure and expectations on her shoulders.
“It really forced me to think for my character as well, there were some ups and downs, but it really came down to the mental side,” Smith said.
“I feel like I’m in a much better space than I was in Tokyo, in terms of just really enjoying swimming for what it is. It’s not my identity and it’s not who I am, it’s just what I do. There’s life after swimming as well.
“I’m not going to beat myself up because of this. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can. I probably won’t be swimming any longer. So I have two more races to go and then I’m done.”
Smith only needs to be on the podium in Thursday night’s women’s 200m breaststroke at the 2024 Paris Games to be officially confirmed as South Africa’s greatest-ever Olympian.
That will take her overall medals tally to four – three gold and a silver. She would join Chad le Clos on four medals but move ahead of him in terms of weight of medals. She has already won two golds, as have Penny Heyns and Caster Semenya, but three golds would see her stand alone.