South Africa will have no presentation at the 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games, in Beijing, China this month.
This year’s Winter Olympics will take place between 4-20 February – although there has already been some action with the early stages of the curling having taken place.
Some 2 871 athletes (1 581 men and 1 290 women) from 91 nations will compete in 109 events in seven sports (15 disciplines).
The seven sports are: Skating, ice hockey, curling, skiing, biathlon, luge and bobsleigh/skeleton.
Those sports are further broken down – in some cases – into 15 total disciplines with the following number of medals on offer in each:
Skating
Figure skating – 5
Speed skating – 14
Short track speed skating – 9
Ice hockey – 2
Curling – 3
Skiing
Cross-country – 12
Alpine – 11
Ski jumping – 5
Nodic combined – 3
Freestyle – 13
Snowboarding – 11
Biathlon – 11
Luge – 4
Bobsleigh/Skeleton
Bobsleigh – 4
Skeleton – 2
South Africa will join six other countries – Bermuda, North Korea, Singapore, Kenya, Togo and Tonga – in not sending any athlete to the 2022 Games, but having done so at the last Olympics in 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
On that occasion South Africa sent Connor Wilson.
Wilson competed in the men’s slalom and giant slalom but failed to finish in both events.
South Africa has sent athletes to seven previous Winter Olympics dating back to 1960 in Squaw Valley in the United States.
No surprise to learn the country has yet to win a medal of any colour.
SASCOC communications and media liaison Jessica Choga confirmed to The South African website that no South African athlete had qualified to attend this year’s Winter Olympics.
Norway topped the medal table at the last Winter Olympics with 39 total medals (14 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze).