Alan Hatherly Wins Bronze for South Africa at the Paris Olympics

South African mountain biker Alan Hatherly has clinched a bronze medal in the cross-country event at the Paris Olympics on Monday. This marks the country’s second medal of these Games, and it’s a historic win, as it’s the first Olympic cycling medal for South Africa since 1956 in Melbourne.

Hatherly started the race strong, taking the lead early on. However, he faced a setback and dropped to around seventh place at one point. Undeterred, he pushed hard and eventually secured third place with a comfortable gap behind him.

The pre-race favorite, Britain’s Thomas Pidcock, had to make a pit stop for a wheel change, allowing Hatherly to briefly move into second place before Pidcock fought his way back to the front.

Hatherly finished the race just 11 seconds behind Pidcock. Despite being thrilled with the bronze, he admitted to feeling a bit down about how close he came to winning gold. “I think right now I’m a bit bleak that gold was so close, but I definitely left everything out there,” he shared.

He emphasized that the race was very tactical and managing the heat was tough. “It was really hard to manage the heat. I was just trying to cope with it as the race unfolded,” he noted.

With cycling and rugby sevens both winning bronze medals, all eyes will be on swimmers Tatjana Smith and Pieter Coetzé, who are set to compete later in the evening and hope to add to the medal tally for South Africa.