While the SA team had reason to celebrate, with the Blitzboks picking up their first medal of the Games, the rest of the national squad had to dig deep on what was a tough first official day of competition at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
The Blitzboks opened the nations medal count with a bronze medal in the mens rugby sevens tournament, beating Australia 26-19 in a thrilling playoff.
In other events, however, it was not all smooth sailing, as Team South Africa struggled to put up a fight.
Competing in the evening session in the swimming pool, national record holder Erin Gallagher settled for 14th position in 57.90 seconds in the womens 100m butterfly semifinals, missing out on a place in the final.
Earlier in the day, rower Paige Badenhorst kept her medal hopes alive, taking third place in her single sculls heat in 7:39.19 and booking her place in the quarterfinals to be contested on Tuesday.
