President Ramaphosa honours South Africa’s Olympic and Paralympic stars with prestigious Shield of Jove

President Cyril Ramaphosa presented the Shield of Jove to the most outstanding achievers for the Olympic and Paralympic Games during the Olympics and Paralympics recognition ceremony held at the Union Buildings in Tshwane on Friday.

Tatjana Smith and Mpumelelo Mhlongo received the top honour for their exceptional achievements at the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games

Smith, a retired swimmer, is the most decorated South African Olympian in history. The achievers award comes after Smith won a 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.

She also won a gold medal in the 100-metre breaststroke and a silver medal in the 200-metre breaststroke at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Mhlongo, a Paralympic Gold medalist and World Record holder, won silver and bronze at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in the T44 men's 100 metres and long jump events.

He collected a gold and bronze medal at the Paris Paralympic Games earlier this year. Mhlongo first claimed gold in the men’s T44 100m before adding the bronze in the Men’s T64 200m.

The prestigious Shield Jove award was donated to the South African government in 1948 by Frederick Mitchell-Hedges, a British archaeologist involved in mining in South Africa.

“It is a symbol of excellence, perseverance and dedication to the pursuit of sporting greatness,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa during his address.

“These remarkable achievements are the product of a collective commitment to building a sustainable sporting culture in South Africa. 

“Our athletes have excelled because of the investments we’ve made in sports infrastructure, in grassroots development and in training systems. However, we must do more to ensure that the next generation of South African athletes has even greater opportunities to succeed.

“We must continue to invest in youth development, ensuring that children in every part of our country – whether urban or rural – have access to sports programmes. This means strengthening our partnerships with local schools, community centres and clubs.

“We must make sure that our youth are equipped with the skills, coaching and facilities they need to reach their full potential.”

Team South Africa featured 147 athletes at the Paris Olympics Games, which took place from July 26 to August 11, 2024, and 32 athletes at the Paris Summer Paralympics Games from August 28 to September 8, 2024.

A total of 12 medals were achieved for the respective games, six each for the Olympics (one Gold, three Silver and two Bronze) and Paralympics (two Gold, and four Bronze)

The ceremony also recognised the excellence demonstrated by top athletes as well as the organizational effort by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee to prepare Team South Africa for the Games.