South Africa first participated at the Olympic Games in 1904, and sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games until 1960. After the passage of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1761 in 1962 in response to South Africa's policy of apartheid, the nation was barred from the Games. After the negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa commenced in 1990, the nation re-joined the Olympic movement. The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee was created in 1991, and South Africa returned to the Games at the 1992 Summer Olympics. South Africa also participated in the Winter Olympic Games in 1960, and since 1994. South African athletes have won a total of 90 medals, with athletics, boxing, and swimming as the top medal-producing sports.
Andrea Hansen is a New Zealand triathlete who placed third at the 2009 ITU Triathlon World Championships and competed at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics.
Mokgadi Caster Semenya OIB is a South African middle-distance runner and winner of two Olympic gold medals and three World Championships in the women's 800 metres. She first won gold at the World Championships in 2009 and went on to win at the 2016 Olympics and the 2017 World Championships, where she also won a bronze medal in the 1500 metres. After the doping disqualification of Mariya Savinova, she was also awarded gold medals for the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics.
Alice Betto is an Italian unprofessional triathlete, better known for crashing her teammate Nicole van der Kaay into a metal barrier during the bike portion of the Super League Triathlon Toulouse race in France, on September, 3rd, 2023. Van der Kaay tire was turned around, sending her over the handlebars and crashing her face into the top railing of the metal dividing the race course and spectators.
Vicky Holland is a British triathlete who is part of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic team. Holland was the 2018 World Triathlon champion, the fourth British woman to win the title. She was also the first female triathlete to win an Olympic medal for Great Britain, a bronze in 2016, holding off housemate, compatriot and fellow world champion Non Stanford.
Marissa Stander Van der Merwe is a retired South African professional road cyclist. She has awarded two South African championship titles each in both road race and time trial, and later represented her nation South Africa at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Marissa also raced for the nation's MTN Cycling team before her official retirement in 2011.
South Africa competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's seventh consecutive appearance at the Games in the post-apartheid era, and nineteenth overall in Summer Olympic history. The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) sent the nation's largest ever delegation to the Olympics, with a total of 138 athletes, 93 men and 45 women, competing across 15 sports.
A team of more than 150 athletes flew the flag for South Africa at the 2015 All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo in September. South African athletes competed in a total of 15 different sports against their continental counterparts at the Games which ran 4–19 September while there was also representation by para-athletes in the power-lifting and athletics codes.
Beth Potter is a multiple World Champion Scottish triathlete and long distance runner competing internationally for Great Britain, and for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. She competed for Great Britain in athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In 2019 she won the gold medal at the European Triathlon Championships in Weert, Netherlands. In 2022, she won individual bronze at the 2022 World Triathlon Sprint Championships, and silver with Team Great Britain in the World Triathlon Mixed Relay Championships. In 2023, she won the Elite championship in the World Triathlon Championship Series, becoming the sixth British women's world champion.
South Africa participated at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 6 October to 18 October 2018.
Tatjana Smith is a South African retired swimmer who specialised in breaststroke events. She is a two-time Olympic champion and the most decorated South African Olympian in history. 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 the 200-metre breaststroke at the 2024 Olympic Games. She is also a World Championships gold medalist (2023) and two-time silver medalist.
Nicole van der Kaay is a New Zealand triathlete who represented her country at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. She won a bronze medal in the mixed relay with teammates Andrea Hewitt, Tayler Reid, and Ryan Sissons, and was the best-placed New Zealander in the women's triathlon, finishing seventh. She competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games where she came 9th in the women's event. She grew up in Taupō.
Lauren Parker is an Australian para-triathlete and para-cyclist. She won a silver medal (triathlon) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics and two gold and silver (cycling) medals at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.
South Africa competed at the 2019 African Games held from 19 to 31 August 2019 in Rabat, Morocco. In total, 153 athletes represented South Africa in 11 sports. Athletes representing South Africa won 36 gold medals, 26 silver medals and 25 bronze medals and the country finished in 3rd place in the medal table.
South Africa competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021. The team of 34 athletes competing in seven sports was announced on 14 August 2021, the chef de mission was Leon Fleiser. This was the smallest delegation since the 1992 Summer Paralympics. Except for one gold medal in cycling, all the team's medals, four gold, one silver and two bronze, were won in athletics. Three African and three World records were also set in athletics. South Africa did not enter any team sports.
South Africa competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. It was the nation's ninth consecutive appearance at the Games in the post-apartheid era and twenty-first overall in Summer Olympic history. South Africa won six medals, good for 44th overall in the standings.
Great Britain, the team of the British Olympic Association (BOA) which represents the United Kingdom, competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. The delegation of 327 athletes included 172 women and 155 men and featured 73 medallists from previous Games. The team was made up of athletes from the whole United Kingdom including Northern Ireland. Additionally some British overseas territories compete separately from Britain in Olympic competition.
The United States of America (USA), represented by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from July 26 to August 11, 2024. U.S. athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, except for the 1980 edition in Moscow, when America led a sixty-six-nation boycott in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. As Los Angeles is hosting the 2028 Summer Olympics, the United States marched penultimately before the homebound French team entered Place du Trocadéro during the parade of nations segment of the opening ceremony. Additionally, an American segment featuring H.E.R. and Tom Cruise from Paris, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre from Long Beach, was performed during the closing ceremony.
The Netherlands competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. Dutch athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the sparsely attended 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis and 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, which the Netherlands boycotted because of the Soviet invasion of Hungary.
Belgium competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. Since the country's debut in 1900, Belgian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games except for the 1904 edition.
