SASCOC boss hopes Opex return will boost Team SA medal tally

With a disappointing display, Team SA managed to secure only three medals. Opex, introduced by the SA Olympic body, is designed to support athletes in their quest to qualify in various sporting disciplines during major events.

SASCOC successfully obtained a sponsorship of R66 million from Bidvest, ensuring the program’s financial backing for the next four years.

The next Olympic Games are in Paris in 2024, where Team SA target more medals.

"Let's just start with the amount of funding that we've had in the past and then look at when we had lost that sort of funding that sort of support. It had a clear negative effect on the amount of medals that one brings into the organisation," he said.

"If we compare England and Australia, the amount of money that they receive for the athletes, it clearly shows in the amount of medals that they win as well including European countries. I want us to take into account that this is one of the first stepping stones in our goal of really supporting our athletes properly and professionally so that they can be professional athletes out there and really work towards achieving their goals and achieving medals."

Hendricks, now in his second year as the President of SASCOC, expresses satisfaction with his achievements so far. One of his notable achievements includes the appointment of Nozipho Jafta as the organization’s CEO, bringing in fresh leadership. Additionally, Hendricks has successfully secured Bidvest as a new sponsor, contributing to the financial recovery of SASCOC. With these positive developments, he believes that the organization’s financial situation has improved significantly.

"We've managed to bring in a CEO and we've managed to bring in competence senior staff and we've managed to stabilise the organisation in terms of its staff complement, its stability but also in terms of our bank balance."