South Africa’s best-ever Olympic team was welcomed home at a ceremony at OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday.
Official sponsor Telkom contributed R4 million in incentives for medal winners, to be shared equally between the Olympic and Paralympic teams.
This year, Team South Africa brings home 10 medals from the Summer Olympics hosted by Rio de Janeiro: four medals in athletics (including two gold and two silver), three silver medals in swimming, and one bronze each in rowing, triathlon, and rugby sevens.
Each Olympic medallist and their coach will be rewarded by Telkom as follows:
- Gold medallists receive R400 000 with a further R100 000 going to the athlete’s coach
- Silver medallists receive R200 000 with R50 000 paid to the coach
- Bronze medallists receive R80 000 with R20 000 paid to the coach.
Telkom has a long history of supporting the Olympics, having sponsored the South African Olympic teams in 2004 and 2008, and the South African Paralympic team in 2012.
“It is with great pride that we welcome our Olympic athletes home today following their outstanding performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Along with the rest of the country, we stayed up until the early hours of the morning to witness Wayde van Niekerk’s record-breaking 400m run and Caster Semenya’s 800m triumph. Their dedication and discipline serves as a powerful example to all of us to strive for greatness,” said Enzo Scarcella, Telkom Chief Marketing Officer.
Telkom is also a sponsor of South Africa’s Paralympic team, who will compete in Rio de Janeiro from 7 to 18 September.
