Paris medal ‘goes deep’ for Rosko Specman after bagging rare double

Blitzboks veteran Rosko Specman, the first South African in 104 years to win a second Olympic medal after an eight-year gap, said his Paris 2024 bronze held a deeper significance than his Rio 2016 gong.

The team’s 26-19 triumph over Australia to secure third place in the rugby sevens tournament at Stade de France also made him only the 10th competitor from the country to win medals at two Games.

Asked to compare the two bronze medals, Specman, the sole survivor of the 2016 brigade, said: “I must say this one, it goes deep, because the first time in 2016 I was still young so it was just like a normal tournament for me.

“But this one is like you must enjoy this moment, you must treasure this moment and you won’t have it again because if you think of the age that I am — I’m 35 years old — there are youngsters in the team so I must enjoy every moment and make sure I have great memories.”

Coach Philip Snyman, who also played in Rio, said the 2016 and 2024 campaigns were very different.

“In 2016 we went into that tournament as one of the favourites and then we fell short against Great Britain in the semifinals and then we had an easy game [against Japan] and we almost put 50 points up in the third/fourth playoffs.

“So I think the emotions there were kind of like we expected a little bit more in that tournament.”

This time the Blitzboks were considered underdogs, he said.

“We snuck through last minute, last team to qualify for the Olympics, last team to qualify for the quarterfinals and then we came out and had our moments against France [in the semifinal].”

The red card in the bronze-medal match against Australia gave him a flashback to the Tokyo 2020 contest against Argentina.

“We lost that match. Tonight the guys really pulled it through so I think this one is really special. I told the players before the third-fourth playoffs, don’t underestimate the value of this because the Olympic medal is very, very special and sometimes you only realise a year or two afterwards.

“I think for me the 2016 Olympic medal, I realised two or three years afterwards to be an Olympic medallist is really special,” Snyman said.

Specman is the 10th South African to have won medals from two Games, a feat that swimmer Tatjana Smith is also likely to match.

The only other South African to have won medals eight years apart was tennis player Charles Winslow, who took golds at Stockholm 1912 and a bronze at Antwerp 1920.

Henri Schoeman, Chad le Clos and Wayde van Niekerk are eligible to join Specman and Winslow should they make a podium in France. Rower John Smith, however, will set a record of 12 years if he bags a medal.

South Africans who have won medals at two Olympics:

Rosko Specman: Rugby sevens bronze at Rio 2016 and Paris 2024

Caster Semenya: 800m gold at London 2012 and Rio 2016

Chad le Clos: 200m butterfly gold and 100m butterfly silver at London 2012 and 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly silver at Rio 2016

Cameron van der Burgh: 100m breaststroke gold at London 2012 and silver at Rio 2016

Hestrie Cloete: High jump silver at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004

Penny Heyns: 100m and 200m breaststroke gold at Atlanta 1996 and 100m breaststroke bronze at Sydney 2000

Danie Bekker: Heavyweight boxing bronze at Melbourne 1956 and silver at Rome 1960

Alfred Swift: 4,000m team pursuit silver at Helsinki 1952 and 1km time trial bronze at Melbourne 1956

Sydney Atkinson: 110m hurdles silver at Paris 1924 and gold at Amsterdam 1928

Charles Winslow: Men’s singles and doubles gold at Stockholm 1912 and men’s singles bronze at Antwerp 1920. — TimesLIVE