PARIS — Jo-Ane van Dyk clinched a silver medal in the women's javelin throw at the 2024 Paris Olympics, marking the sixth medal for Team South Africa at these Games. Competing at the Stade de France, van Dyk's third attempt reached 63.93 meters, securing her position behind Japan's Haruka Kitaguchi.

According to South African Government News Agency, van Dyk displayed exceptional form throughout the week, which culminated in her silver medal-winning throw on Saturday night. Kitaguchi won gold with a throw of 65.80 meters. Van Dyk, who was coached by Terseus Liebenberg, the same coach who led Sunette Viljoen to silver at the Rio 2016 Olympics, showed significant improvement from her first Olympic appearance in Tokyo where she was eliminated in the qualifying round.

Van Dyk's journey to the podium included an initial throw of 59.72 meters, which she improved to 61.72 meters on her second attempt. It was her third throw that moved her past the bronze medal position, outperforming bronze medalist Nikola Ogrodnikova by 25 centimeters and fourth-place finisher Sara Kolak by 53 centimeters.

In other events, high jumper Brian Raats ended the competition in 12th place with a jump of 2.17 meters, with the gold going to New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr, who cleared 2.36 meters. The men's 4x400m relay team for South Africa also highlighted their resilience, setting a national record of 2:58.12, though finishing fifth after an intense race where the United States took gold with a new Olympic record time.