Special Sub-Topic: South African Sporting Greats Click Here To Play: South African Sporting Greats

Which South African athelete won the 100 metres at the Olympic Games in London in 1908?

Reggie Walker. Reggie Walker won the 100 metres at the Olympic Games in London in 1908, the first South African, and ythe first African, to win the Olympic 100 metres title.

Who won the Comrades marathon in 1981?

Bruce Fordyce. The Comrades marathon is widely recognised as the world's greatest ultra-marathon. Bruce Fordyce dominated this event in the eighties, winning in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1990. Sam Tshabalala won in 1989, becoming the first black winner of the Comrades. Fordyce didn't race that year.

The Molokai Challenge is considered the world championship of solo ocean paddling. How many successive times did Oscar Chalupsky win in the 1980s?

7. Oscar Chalupsky won all events from 1983 to 1989.

Graeme Pollock is considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all-time. What was his test batting average when he retired?

60.97. He made his Test debut at the age of 19, and in just 41 tests he scored 2484 runs at an average of 60.97, with five centuries and 15 fifties. He also captured 47 wickets at an average 39.55 runs per wicket. Sadly, his test career was cut short when, at the age of twenty six, an international sporting ban was imposed on South Africa as a result of Apartheid. He was arguably the greatest left-handed batsman the world has yet seen.

Gary player, one of the worlds golfing greats, won a particular major tournament over three different decades, during the '50s, '60s, and the 1970s. Which tournament was it?

The British Open. Gary Player won the British Open in 1959, 1968, and 1974. He was also the first non-American golfer to win the US Masters. Player won 163 tournaments all over the world during his career, and was the first South African to win golf's Grand Slam of the U.S. Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, and U.S. PGA titles.

Sally Little became golf's 12th LPGA millionaire in 1985. She first made her mark by being name the LPGA Rookie of the Year in what year?

1971-72. Sally Little went on to win 15 LPGA titles, including three majors.

Who was the first non-white rugby player to start a test match for South Africa?

Errol Tobias. Errol Tobias was 31 when he faced Ireland at Newlands on 30th May 1981. In the four matches that he played at flyhalf, South Africa scored 122 points, running in 18 tries, 12 of them by backline players. He retired in 1984, having played 15 times for the Springboks, including in six Tests, all which South Africa won.

He was the first black South African to play professional football in Europe. By 1959, he was rated one of the best soccer players in Europe. Who is he?

Steve Mokone. He's had a street in Amsterdam named after him. He's had a book written and a film made about him. After signing up for English club Coventry City in 1955, Steve 'Kalamazoo' Mokone went on to achieve superstar status playing for the Dutch side Heracles and later for Torino in Italy.

She was voted into the Swimming Hall of Fame in 1980, having set 15 world records. Who was it?

Karen Muir. Karen Muir became the youngest ever world record holder in any sport in 1965, at age 12, when she established a new mark in the 110-yard backstroke.

Which South African won the surfing world title in 1977?

Shaun Thomson. Shaun Thomson won the world title in 1977. Maybe a greater claim to fame for the man from Durban, was that many people regard him as the best tube rider of all-time.