By Ken Borland
JOHANNESBURG Aug 9 (Reuters) – South African Olympic
swimming gold medallist Cameron van der Burgh arrived home on
Thursday just after sunrise to a tumultuous welcome from
hundreds of supporters and said a few things were going to have
to change.
“I woke up on the plane this morning and was turning on my
phone and I had to put my pin number in. That’s when I realised
that since the age of 10 I’ve been using 2012 as my pin
number,” Van der Burgh told a news conference broadcast live on
all three of South Africa’s main television stations.
“But now that I’ve won gold in the 2012 Olympics, I’ve
achieved that goal and, for the first time in 14 years, I’ll
have to change my pin,” said Van der Burgh, the winner of the
100 metres breaststroke in a world record time of 58.46 seconds.
Compatriot Chad Le Clos snatched gold in the final stroke of
the 200 butterfly from American Michael Phelps, who retired as
the most successful Olympian in history with 18 golds and 22
medals overall.
The 20-year-old from Durban said he was still coming to
terms with beating his hero in London.
“It was a very special Olympic Games for me and the last
time I race against Michael Phelps. He is such an inspiration
for me and the last time we met before the Olympics, I was
asking him for hundreds of photos and his caps and goggles,” Le
Clos told the same news conference in Johannesburg.
“I’m still a great fan of his and it was the most
overwhelming feeling to beat him. It just shows that you should
never give up on your dreams, no matter how far behind you are
in the race.”
Both swimmers said they wanted to build on their London
success and win more medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
Continued…
