Everything you need to know about Team South Africa at the 2022 Commonwealth Games 

South Africa head into the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games banking on a stalwarts such as Tatjana Schoenmaker, Chad le Clos and Akani Simbine. Here is your guide on who to look out for from Team South Africa and when you can catch them in action. 

7 minBy Ockert de Villiers
Team South Africa Gold Coast

(2018 Getty Images)

South Africa will make its eighth Commonwealth Games appearance since returning from international isolation when the Birmingham 2022 event kicks off on 28 July.

The country made a low-key return at the 1994 event in Victoria, British Columbia, finishing 12th on the overall table courtesy of two gold medals.

Team SA has since been among the top seven nations at each multi-sport showpiece, including a fifth place at Melbourne 2006, where the country won 38 medals – 12 gold, 13 silver and 13 bronze. Four years ago, South Africa bowed out in sixth place in the Gold Coast with 37 medals, including 13 gold.

The South African contingent for Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games includes Olympic swimming gold medallists Tatjana Schoenmaker and Chad le Clos and defending Commonwealth Games 100m champion Akani Simbine.

The trio were the standout performers at the previous edition and, along with a few other prospects, will be hunting for silverware in Birmingham.

The quadrennial showpiece is set to run from 28 July to 8 August and will involve 72 nations and territories competing in 19 different sports.

Olympics.com takes a look at the South African stars expected to shine at Birmingham 2022.

READ: Commonwealth Games 2022: Preview, schedule, how to watch the stars in action

Chad le Clos

South Africa’s most decorated Olympian may have fallen into a slump recently but remains one of the great championship swimmers. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games marked the first time he did not reach the podium at a major global swimming gala in a decade.

The 30-year-old Le Clos will dive into the pool in Birmingham, looking to turn back the clock in search of a final piece of history. Already the most decorated swimmer at the Commonwealth Games, Le Clos is two medals away from becoming the most successful athlete in any discipline. Le Clos is one medal shy of the all-time record held by shooters Phillip Adams from Australia and Mick Gault of England.

He won five medals in Delhi in 2010 and seven in Glasgow in 2014 before winning five more in Gold Coast four years later.

The four-time Olympic medallist made headlines when he withdrew from the FINA World Championships in Hungary in June.

Four years ago, he won the butterfly golden treble and a rare three-peat in the 200m butterfly to underscore his dominance in the stroke. But time seems to catch up with the South African looking to cement his legacy with two more medals in Birmingham.

Chad le Clos: Schedule for Commonwealth Games 2022

  • Friday 29 July – men’s 50m butterfly heats and semi-finals
  • Saturday 30 July – men’s 50m butterfly final
  • Sunday 31 July – men’s 200m butterfly heats and final
  • Monday 1 August – men’s 100m butterfly heats and semi-finals
  • Tuesday 2 August – men’s 100m butterfly final

READ: The venues at Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

(2021 Getty Images)

Tatjana Schoenmaker 

Schoenmaker will be among South Africa’s top medal hopefuls buoyed by her Olympic gold and silver as she looks to defend her double Commonwealth Games titles. 

The Commonwealth Games in 2018 served as the launching pad for Schoenmaker’s thriving career when she announced herself on the global stage, winning a historic 100m-200m breaststroke double gold.

The following year she became the first South African female to win a medal at a world long-course championship with her 200m breaststroke silver in Gwangju, South Korea.

Schoenmaker came painstakingly close to emulating South African icon Penny Heyns in winning the 100m and 200m breaststroke titles at the same Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020. She produced one of the standout performances in the pool in Tokyo, winning the 200m breaststroke gold medal in a world-record time and silver in the 100m event. 

Schoenmaker will be primed for success in Birmingham after skipping the world championships in Budapest to focus instead on defending her Commonwealth titles.

Tatjana Schoenmaker: Schedule for Commonwealth Games 2022

  • Friday 29 July – women’s 50m breaststroke heats and semi-finals
  • Saturday 30 July – women’s 50m breaststroke final
  • Sunday 31 July – women’s 200m breaststroke heats and final
  • Monday 1 August – women’s 100m breaststroke heats and semi-finals
  • Tuesday 2 August – women’s 100m breaststroke final

WATCH: Sport Guide – Swimming explained

(2018 Getty Images)

Akani Simbine

South Africa’s fastest man will back into the blocks in Birmingham determined to become the first man since British great Linford Christie in 1994 to successfully defend a Commonwealth Games title in the 100m event.

Simbine seems to be peaking at the right moment after recently reaching his third consecutive world championships 100m final in Eugene, Oregon, where he finished in fifth place.

The 28-year-old is nothing if not consistent, finishing among the top-five men in each of the three world championships finals and the last two Olympic Games.

Simbine will have a fight on his hands with Kenyan speedster Ferdinand Omanyala aiming to usurp the South African of another crown. Omanyala already relieved Simbine of the African record last year before narrowly beating him in the 100m final at the continental championships in Mauritius earlier this year.

Akani Simbine: Schedule for Commonwealth Games 2022

  • Tuesday 2 August – men’s 100m first round
  • Wednesday 3 August – men’s 100m semi-finals and final

(2014 Getty Images)

Springbok Sevens team

The South African men’s team won the bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Games when Rugby Sevens debuted at the Olympics.

The Blitzboks claimed gold in Glasgow in 2014 but missed a podium finish at the next Games in 2018 at the Gold Coast in Australia. South Africa also won bronze in 2002 and 2010.

The team has won the annual World Rugby Sevens Series three out of the last five seasons and is currently leading the standings with one tournament remaining.

South Africa will face Malaysia, Tonga and Scotland in Pool B while defending champions New Zealand has been drawn into Pool A and Olympic gold medallists Fiji headlining Pool C.

Blitzboks Schedule for Commonwealth Games 2022

  • Friday 29 July – South Africa vs Malaysia, South Africa vs Tonga
  • Saturday 30 July – South Africa vs Scotland, quarterfinals
  • Sunday 31 July – Semi-finals, bronze-medal match and final

(2018 Getty Images)

Alan Hatherly

The former under-23 world cross-country champion has made steady progress on the UCI World Cup circuit, where he is often among the top 10 finishers.

Hatherly will go into the Commonwealth Games off the back of his best World Cup result in the cycling mountain bike finishing second in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, earlier this month. This is the same venue where he became only the second South African – after the late Burry Stander – to claim the under-23 world cross-country title in 2018.

The 26-year-old Hatherly is now a seasoned campaigner with two Olympics behind his name, finishing 26th on debut in Rio 2016 and eighth in Tokyo 2020 (in 2021).

Four years ago, he bagged the bronze medal at the Gold Coast and will fancy his chances of upgrading to silver or gold in Birmingham.

Alan Hatherly: Schedule for Commonwealth Games 2022

  • Wednesday 3 August – men's cross country final

(Lifebelucky)

Proteas Women’s T20 cricket team

The South African women’s team will look to follow in the footsteps of the men’s team led by Shaun Pollock, who won gold in cricket’s only previous Commonwealth Games appearance in 1998. Cricket will return to the Games as a women’s Twenty20 tournament and feature some of the world’s top nations.

South Africa is expected to be among the contenders after reaching the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup semi-finals earlier this year.

However, the Proteas team suffered the loss of some key personnel in the build-up to the Games and suffered a series defeat to England ahead of the quadrennial showpiece.

Proteas Women’s T20 cricket team: Schedule for Commonwealth Games 2022

  • Saturday 30 July – New Zealand vs South Africa
  • Tuesday 2 August – England vs South Africa
  • Thursday 4 August – South Africa vs Sri Lanka
  • Saturday 6 August – Semi-finals
  • Sunday 7 August – Bronze-medal match and final

How to watch Team South Africa at Commonwealth Games 2022

South Africa: SuperSport

UK: BBC TV, Radio, iPlayer

Canada: CBC Sports, CBC Sports app

Australia: Channel 7, 7Plus

New Zealand: Sky, TVNZ

India: Sony LIV

Further streaming details to be released on the Commonwealth Games website.

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