UP women strike gold at 2022 Commonwealth Games

Precious Maphupha

9August 2022 marked the 66th anniversary of the 20 000+ women who marched to the Union Buildings to protest against the Pass Laws that were to be extended to women. To wrap up Women’s month, PDBY decided to shine a light on the sportswomen of UP and their successes at the recent Birmingham Commonwealth Games as they pave the way and inspire a new generation of young UP sportswomen.

Zeney van der Walt

Zeney van der Walt is a 22-year-old UP athlete currently studying a BEd Senior Phase & FET. At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, she took bronze in the 400-meter hurdles final, with a personal best of 54.47 seconds. In an emotional Instagram post, she said she was “grateful to run and leave [her] heart on the track”. A large infectious smile is a common theme on van der Walt’s Instagram as seen when van der Walt posed with Jamaican athletes holding her South African flag after winning the bronze.

Erin Gallagher

Moving on to UP swimmer and BSc student, Erin Gallagher, who is only 23-years-old and has already won a silver medal at the Games, with a time of 26.05 seconds. This placed her second, along with Australian swimmer, Holly Barratt, in the women’s 50-meter butterfly final. Gallagher highlighted the importance of this experience, and how this win did not define her or her abilities. She went on to write a personal note about how this experience allowed her to come to the realisation that she has always been enough despite the many discouraging struggles she has had to face.

Gallagher is rarely out of her swimming attire on her Instagram, and she seems to always be drawn to a body of water.

Kaylene Corbett

Speaking of Gallagher’s swimming friends, one that you may recognise on Gallagher’s Instagram is 23-year-old, Kaylene Corbett who is a fellow UP student studying a BEd. She won gold and bronze in the women’s 200-metre breaststroke final alongside UP alumni, Tatjana Schoenmaker.

They won the gold with a time of 2 minutes and 21.92 seconds and bronze with a time of 2 minutes and 23.67 seconds, respectively. When asked about Corbett, Schoenmaker told TuksSport that she knew Corbett could do it and that, “she only had to believe she was good enough to win a medal”. Clearly, Corbett was able to find this belief in herself but also seems to have left it to her faith in God.

Donne Breytenbac

A special mention should be made to 20-year-old, Donne Breytenbach, a rising judo star who won silver in the 57kg African Championships, when she was only 19. Breytenbach made history by going to the Commonwealth Games with her twin brother, Thomas Breytenbach. This is seemingly the first time in South African history that twins represented South Africa at the Commonwealth Games at the same time. We hope to see more of both of them representing South Africa and UP in the future.

Rounding off our excellent UP women at the 2022 Commonwealth Games are alumni, Tatjana Schoenmaker and Geronay Michaela Whitebooi.

Tatjana Schoenmaker

Schoenmaker seems to constantly pop up in UP sports articles, and this is because she has not slowed down since her momentous win at the 2020 Olympic Games. Her and Kaylene Corbett took gold and bronze in the women’s 200-metre breaststroke at the Games. At 25-years-old, she has only proven how much of an inspiration as she was was not only named in Forbes’ 30 under 30 list of 2022, but also started the Tatjana Schoenmaker Foundation. She posted about it on her Instagram, saying that she hopes that it “will be a shining light” and “a blessing to others”. She also states that she was helped financially by fellow South Africans through crowdfunding, and she wants to do the same to help others through this foundation.

Geronay Whitebooi

If you read our sports spotlight article focused on judo, Whitebooi will not be a new name to you. The 26-year-old UP graduate won a gold medal in the women’s 48kg category for judo at the Games and was not shy to thank TuksSport and TuksJudo in her Instagram caption after winning. Her Instagram is filled with pictures of herself living an everyday, normal life as well as moments taken from her judo tournaments and training. One can see that fitness is important to Whitebooi, and as the champion of the 48kg women’s category, her focus on fitness has paid off. Other highlights you can see on her page are of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she was present.

This article is just a showcase of some of the UP and South African women who represent us in the world of sport while also showcasing their resilience and never-die attitude. Our alumni have repeatedly epitomised this attitude after losing big games by picking themselves back up and coming back stronger, finishing what they started, and truly embodying the saying “wathinta abafazi, wathinta imbokodo” meaning “you strike a woman, you strike a rock”.