Cameron Van Der Burgh wins South Africa’s first Gold Medal – Men’s 100m Breaststroke – London 2012 Olympics – Medal Results

by Tina Bradley
July 29, 2012 at 3:43 pm

All the talk, at least in the U.S. press, about the Men’s 100m Breaststroke at the 2012 London Olympics was about the rivalry between American Brendan Hansen and Kitajima from Japan. However, the results weren’t what the U.S. fans were hoping for in tonights Medal round. Instead it was all Cameron Van Der Burgh of South Africa.

Hansan came away with a, perhaps more realistic, bronze medal, while Kitajima didn’t make the podium. Instead, Cameron Van Der Burgh won the first ever Olympic swimming gold medal for South Africa and he did it in a world record time of 58.46.

While it ended up being a disappointing race for those hoping to see Hansan get the gold medal he felt Kitajima robbed him of the last time around, it was exciting to see history being made by Van Der Burgh, who swam such a dominating race, that it became clear early on that Hansan and Kitajima weren’t going to be much of a factor.

Congratulations to all the medalists!

Results:

Gold: Cameron Van Der Burgh – South Africa

Silver: Christian Sprenger – Australia

Bronze: Brendon Hansan – United States