South Africa at the 1920 Summer Olympics

South Africa at the
1920 Summer Olympics
South Africa at the; 1920 Summer Olympics
IOC code	RSA
NOC	South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee
Website	www.sascoc.co.za
in Antwerp
Competitors	39 in 7 sports
Medals; Ranked 11th	Gold 3 Silver 4 Bronze 3 Total 10
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
	1904; 1908; 1912; 1920; 1924; 1928; 1932; 1936; 1948; 1952; 1956; 1960; 1964–1988; 1992; 1996; 2000; 2004; 2008; 2012; 2016; 2020; 2024;

The Union of South Africa competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. 39 competitors, 38 men and 1 woman, took part in 34 events in 7 sports.^[1]

Medalists[edit]

Gold[edit]

Bevil Rudd — Athletics, Men's 400m
Clarence Walker — Boxing, Bantamweight
Louis Raymond — Tennis, Men's singles

Silver[edit]

Henry Dafel, Clarence Oldfield, Jack Oosterlaak and Bevil Rudd — Athletics, Men's 4 × 400 m relay
Henry Kaltenbrunn — Cycling, Men's Individual Time Trial
William Smith and James Walker — Cycling, Men's Tandem
David Smith, Robert Bodley, Ferdinand Buchanan, George Harvey and Frederick Morgan — Shooting, Men's Team 600m military rifle

Bronze[edit]

Bevil Rudd — Athletics, Men's 800m
James Walker, William Smith, Henry Kaltenbrun and Harry Goosen — Cycling, Men's Team pursuit
Charles Winslow — Tennis, Men's singles

J.J. Van Rensburg - wrestling

Aquatics[edit]

Swimming[edit]

A single swimmer represented South Africa in 1920. It was the nation's second appearance in the sport. Nash did not advance to the final in either event.

Ranks given are within the heat.

Women

Swimmer	Event	Semifinals		Final
Swimmer	Event	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Blanche Nash	100 m free	Unknown	5	did not advance
Blanche Nash	300 m free	Unknown	6	did not advance

Athletics[edit]

13 athletes represented South Africa in 1920. It was the nation's fourth appearance in athletics, a sport in which South Africa had competed each time the country had appeared at the Olympics. The team took three total medals, one of each color, with Rudd winning two on his own and being part of the relay that won the silver. It was the country's best result in athletics to date.

Ranks given are within the heat.

Athlete	Event	Heats		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
Athlete	Event	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Jacobus Bukes	100 m	11.0	2 Q	11.0	3	did not advance
Jacobus Bukes	200 m	23.4	3	did not advance
Henry Dafel	400 m	51.2	2 Q	50.8	1 Q	50.4	3 Q	50.6	6
Henry Dafel	800 m	—		1:59.2	3 Q		6	did not advance
Leonard Dixon	100 m		3	did not advance
James Doig	800 m	—		1:59.6	4 Q	2:01.5	7	did not advance
Christian Gitsham	Marathon	—						did not finish
Francis Irvine	100 m		3	did not advance
	200 m	23.3	3	did not advance
	400 m	52.5	4	did not advance
Harold Jeppe	110 m hurdles	—			3	did not advance
Cecil McMaster	3 km walk	—				13:48.5	2 Q	13:23.6	4
Cecil McMaster	10 km walk	—				51:39.0	2 Q	50:04.0	4
Clarence Oldfield	400 m	52.2	2 Q	51.1	5	did not advance
Jack Oosterlaak	100 m	11.0	1 Q	11.0	1 Q		4	did not advance
Jack Oosterlaak	200 m	23.2	2 Q	23.0	1 Q	22.7	3 Q	22.4	6
Leonard Richardson	Cross country	—						did not finish
Bevil Rudd	400 m	51.6	1 Q	51.3	2 Q	49.7	2 Q	49.6
Bevil Rudd	800 m	—		1:55.0	1 Q	1:57.0	1 Q	1:53.6
Adriaan "Attie" van Heerden	400 m hurdles	—		did not finish		did not advance
Jacobus Bukes Henry Dafel Francis Irvine Jack Oosterlaak	4 × 100 m relay	—				44.4	3	did not advance
Henry Dafel Clarence Oldfield Jack Oosterlaak Bevil Rudd	4 × 400 m relay	—				3:38.6	1 Q	3:23.0

Boxing[edit]

Seven boxers represented South Africa at the 1920 Games. It was the nation's debut in boxing. Walker won the nation's first Olympic boxing medal, a gold in the bantamweight.

Boxer	Weight class	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / Bronze match
Boxer	Weight class	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Richard Beland	Lightweight	N/A	Grégoire (FRA) W	Van Muyzen (BEL) W	Mosberg (USA) L	Newton (CAN) L	4
William Bradley	Middleweight	Bye	Hesterman (NED) W	Herscovitch (CAN) L	did not advance		5
Thomas Holdstock	Light heavyweight	N/A	Clementz (NOR) W	Eagan (USA) L	did not advance		5
Roy Ingram	Welterweight	Bye	Stokstad (NOR) L	did not advance			9
Jim MacGregor	Light heavyweight	N/A	Schell (USA) L	did not advance			9
Joseph Thomas	Welterweight	Bye	Schneider (CAN) L	did not advance			9
Clarence Walker	Bantamweight	N/A	Bouwens (BEL) W	Hartman (USA) W	McKenzie (GBR) W	Graham (CAN) W

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Belgium	2	0	1.000
Canada	1	3	.250
France	1	0	1.000
Great Britain	1	0	1.000
Netherlands	1	0	1.000
Norway	1	1	.500
United States	1	3	.250

Total	8	7	.533

Round	Wins	Losses	Percent
Round of 32	0	0	–
Round of 16	4	3	.571
Quarterfinals	2	2	.500
Semifinals	1	1	.500
Final	1	0	1.000
Bronze match	0	1	.000

Total	8	7	.533

Cycling[edit]

Five cyclists represented South Africa in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport. The South Africans took three medals, including silvers in the tandem (Smith and Walker) and individual time trial (by Kaltenbrun) and a bronze in the team pursuit. The team pursuit medal was awarded due to South Africa having the faster time of the two semifinal losers.

Road cycling[edit]

Cyclist	Event	Final
Cyclist	Event	Result	Rank
Henry Kaltenbrunn	Time trial	4:41:26.6
James Walker	Time trial	did not finish

Track cycling[edit]

Ranks given are within the heat.

Cyclist	Event	Heats		Quarterfinals		Repechage semis		Repechage final		Semifinals		Final
Cyclist	Event	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Hendrik Goosen	Sprint	Unknown	3	did not advance
William Smith	Sprint	Unknown	3	did not advance
William Smith	50 km	N/A										Unknown	7
George Thursfield	Sprint	Unknown	2 Q	13.2	1 Q	Advanced directly				15.2	2	did not advance
James Walker	Sprint	13.6	1 Q	13.6	1 Q	Advanced directly				15.2	3	did not advance
James Walker	50 km	N/A										did not finish
Hendrik Goosen George Thursfield	Tandem	N/A		Unknown	2	N/A				did not advance
William Smith James Walker	Tandem	N/A		13.0	1 Q	N/A				12.6	1 Q	Unknown
Hendrik Goosen Henry Kaltenbrunn William Smith James Walker	Team pursuit	N/A		5:21.0	1 Q	N/A				5:17.8	2	Did not advance

Shooting[edit]

Seven shooters represented South Africa in 1920. It was the nation's second appearance in the sport. South Africa won its first Olympic shooting medal, with the silver in the long-range team prone military rifle.

Shooter	Event	Final
Shooter	Event	Result	Rank
Robert Bodley	50 m small-bore rifle	Unknown
Robert Bodley	300 m free rifle, 3 pos.	Unknown
George Harvey	50 m small-bore rifle	Unknown
George Harvey	300 m free rifle, 3 pos.	Unknown
George Lishman	50 m small-bore rifle	Unknown
Fred Morgan	50 m small-bore rifle	Unknown
Fred Morgan	300 m free rifle, 3 pos.	Unknown
Mark Paxton	50 m small-bore rifle	Unknown
Mark Paxton	300 m free rifle, 3 pos.	Unknown
David Smith	300 m free rifle, 3 pos.	Unknown
Robert Bodley Ferdinand Buchanan George Harvey Fred Morgan David Smith	600 m team military rifle, prone	287
	300 & 600 m team military rifle, prone	560	5
Robert Bodley Ferdinand Buchanan Fred Morgan Mark Paxton David Smith	300 m team military rifle, standing	233	9
Robert Bodley George Harvey George Lishman Fred Morgan Mark Paxton	50 m team small-bore rifle	1755	8
Robert Bodley George Harvey Fred Morgan Mark Paxton David Smith	Team free rifle	4292	10
Robert Bodley George Lishman Fred Morgan Mark Paxton David Smith	300 m team military rifle, prone	276	8

Tennis[edit]

Five tennis players, all men, competed for South Africa in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport. Winslow, the defending gold medalist in the singles, fell to Ichiya Kumagae in the semifinals and finished with the bronze medal. Kumagae had also beaten Dodd in the quarterfinals. Raymond won the other semifinal, however, and then beat Kumagae to take the gold. Both men's doubles pairs lost in the quarterfinals.

Player	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Rank
Player	Event	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
George Dodd	Men's singles	Blanchy (FRA) W 2–6, 6–2, 6–1, 9–7	Décugis (FRA) W 6–2, 6–1, 6–1	Kashio (JPN) W 6–3, 4–6, 6–2, 3–6, 6–1	Kumagae (JPN) L 7–5, 6–1, 6–1	did not advance		5
Brian Norton	Men's singles	Décugis (FRA) L 6–4, 12–10, 2–6, 8–6	did not advance					32
Louis Raymond	Men's singles	Bye	van den Bemden (BEL) W 7–5, 6–1, 4–6, 6–1	Brugnon (FRA) W 3–6, 6–2, 6–0, 6–1	Malström (SWE) W 6–3, 6–1, 6–1	Turnbull (GBR) W 2–6, 1–6, 6–2, 6–2, 6–1	Kumagae (JPN) W 5–7, 6–4, 7–5, 6–4
Charles Winslow	Men's singles	Bye	Samazeuilh (FRA) W 7–5, 2–6, 6–3, 6–2	Washer (BEL) W 8–6, 6–4, 6–1	Lowe (GBR) W 6–4, 3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–2	Kumagae (JPN) L 6–2, 6–2, 6–2	Turnbull (GBR) W
Cecil Blackbeard George Dodd	Men's doubles	N/A	Beamish & Lowe (GBR) W 6–1, 10–8, 6–3	Lawton & Samazeuilh (FRA) W 6–3, 6–0, 9–7	Albarran & Décugis (FRA) L 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 7–5	did not advance		5
Brian Norton Louis Raymond	Men's doubles	N/A	J. Alonso & M. Alonso (ESP) W 6–3, 7–5, 6–0	Ardelt & Žemla-Rázný (TCH) W 6–1, 6–4, 6–4	Kashio & Kumagae (JPN) L 6–3, 6–2, 4–6, 6–3	did not advance		5

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Belgium	2	0	1.000
Czechoslovakia	1	0	1.000
France	5	2	.714
Great Britain	4	0	1.000
Japan	2	3	.400
Spain	1	0	1.000
Sweden	1	0	1.000

Total	16	5	.762

Round	Wins	Losses	Percent
Round of 64	1	1	.500
Round of 32	5	0	1.000
Round of 16	5	0	1.000
Quarterfinals	2	3	.400
Semifinals	1	1	.500
Final	1	0	1.000
Bronze match	1	0	1.000

Total	16	5	.762

Wrestling[edit]

A single wrestler competed for South Africa in 1920. It was the nation's debut in the sport. Hans J.J. van Rensburg was defeated in the quarterfinals of the freestyle light heavyweight.

Freestyle[edit]

Wrestler	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals / Bronze match	Rank
Hans van Rensburg	Light heavyweight	N/A	Snoeck (BEL) (W)	Courant (SUI) (L)	did not advance		5

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Belgium	1	0	1.000
Switzerland	0	1	.000

Total	1	1	.500

Round	Wins	Losses	Percent
Round of 32	0	0	–
Round of 16	1	0	1.000
Quarterfinals	0	1	.000
Semifinals	0	0	–
Final	0	0	–
Bronze match	0	0	–

Total	1	1	.500

References[edit]

^ "South Africa at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2014.

External links[edit]

Belgium Olympic Committee (1957). Olympic Games Antwerp 1920: Official Report (PDF) (in French). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2011.
Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 16 August 2007.
International Olympic Committee results database

[sports-reference-1] "South Africa at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2014.

[1]