Dayo Fasasi,

A 24-year-old South African Cyclist Louis Meintjes, has broken new ground at the 2016 Olympics, as he emerged, the first South African to reach the 8th position in Olympics race.

Meintjes, finished the race, coming 8th in this year’s Tour de France. According to reports, no South African has ever gotten above the 10 position.

Though this may not seem close to a medal, but when one considers that there were 144 riders taking part in the event, then the magnitude of Meintjes’s effort is applaudable .

Meintjes, alongside his team-mate Daryl Impey, did not enjoy the supports that their competitors had throughout the 256 km journey, report claimed.

“It’s good to hear and hopefully the team builds on that and goes even further,” Meintjes said upon hearing the news that this was South Africa’s best ever finish at the Olympics.

“It was a really long, hot day and I think me and Daryl worked well together with what we had and with our capabilities … I think we rode a really good race”

“It was pretty much full on all day. It was a challenging course; a super hard course, super-hot,” he said.

“We were outnumbered, but the way the race was ridden it kind of played into our hands a little bit.

“We were in a good position coming into the last lap … I think we did really well compare to the other nations that had five riders and invested a lot into this event. We’re really chuffed with the way we handled ourselves today and with Louis climbing there with the world’s best and finishing seventh was a fantastic result for us” He added.

Source: AllAfrica