SA’s most decorated Olympian, Tatjana Smith, arrived back home to an emotional hero’s welcome on Tuesday, alongside her fellow TeamSA athletes.
Supporters flocked to Johannesburg’s OR Thambo International Airport on Tuesday morning to catch a glimpse of the nation’s Olympians touching back down on South African soil.
The athletes made their return home from the Paris Games which concluded in a closing ceremony in Paris on Sunday.
South Africa’s Golden Girl and the nation’s greatest-ever Olympian, Tatjana Smith, bowed out of her successful career in swimming as she represented South Africa on Sunday evening, carrying her country’s flag at the closing ceremony – marking the last time Smith represented her country as an athlete.
After an emotional goodbye and then travelling back home from Paris to Johannesburg, the South African swimmer, alongside fellow TeamSA athletes, received a heartwarming welcome from supporters who made their way to the airport to greet the nation’s champs.
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Upon her arrival, Smith, moved by the incredible show of support, shared words of encouragement for her fellow South Africans:
“Never stop believing in yourself. You can only be the best version of you, so find that and hopefully you can get a medal, too!” The Olympic champion, who hails from Gauteng, adds “I’m a girl from Roodepoort and I’ve made it, so why can’t you?”
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In a media briefing following her arrival, Smith said that her hero’s welcome back home was nothing short of mind blowing.
“This welcoming has been mind blowing, For people to make time and come out here, it really means a lot,” said SA’s Golden Girl.
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Addressing her ‘goodbye’ as flag bearer following back-to-back success at her second run in the Olympic games, Smith recognised the resilience and greatness of South African spirit.
“It’s a bittersweet pill to swallow that I am finished. Being able to walk out at the end of the Olympics with the flag, what it meant of representing our country and its challenges. It’s not a perfect world, but we are champions. Even in the midst of what we are facing, we still rise above,” she said.
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Feature Image: Instagram / @sportsartsculturesa
