Following a historic career that resulted in her becoming the most decorated South African Olympian, Tatjana Smith has been honoured with the Shield of Jove by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
It is hard to believe that this year, South Africa witnessed their own Tatjana Smith make even more history at this year’s edition of the Olympics, which was held in the world-renowned city of Paris. After returning home with a silver and gold medal for the 100m and 200m backstroke in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the star swimmer returned to collect yet another gold and silver for the same races.
Tatjana then made the decision to hang up her goggles and officially retire from the sport, as she looks forward to pursuing other ventures.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and the presidency hosted an appreciation ceremony for the athletes that competed in the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics. The group managed to accumulate 12 medals in total, with the Olympians bagging 1 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze while the Paralympians managed to haul 2 gold and 4 bronze medals.
The ceremony aimed to show appreciation and recognise our 147 courageous athletes for representing South Africa on one of the biggest sporting platforms in the world with immense pride and excitement. During the ceremony, mzansi’s backstroke specialist was awarded with the ‘Shield of Jove’.
Smith won the gold medal in the 200-metre breaststroke and the silver medal in the 100-metre breaststroke at the 2020 Olympic Games, setting Olympic records in both events and the world record in the former, and the gold medal in the 100-metre breaststroke and the silver medal in… pic.twitter.com/xdfrcTIg2o
— The Presidency 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) November 30, 2024
According to President Ramaphosa, the Shield of Jove was awarded to both Tatjana as well as Mpumelelo Mhlongo for their exceptional achievements and performances at this year’s Olympics and Paralympics. The shield was donated to South Africa by British archeologist Frederick Mitchell-Hedges and is said to be the highest honour to be bestowed by any athlete in the county.
