De Lange becomes first SA wrestler to qualify for Olympics in 16 years

JOHANNESBURG – South African wrestler Steyn de Lange has qualified for the Olympics at the second continental qualifier for the Paris Olympic Games held in Alexandria, Egypt from 22 to 24 March.

A South African wrestler is back at the Olympics for the first time in 16 years after De Lange qualified in the 97kg category after defeating Tunisia’s Mohamed Saadaoui via fall.

Seven nations shared the 12 Paris Olympics Freestyle quotas on the final day of the African & Oceania OG Qualifiers in Alexandria.

In 2021, De Lange won the Junior World Championships bronze medal in the 92kg category, which made him the second South African wrestler to ever win a medal at the Junior Wrestling Championships. Pieter-Hendrik van der Schyf won a bronze medal in 2006.

In the 2022 Commonwealth Games, De Lange scooped a silver medal in the 97kg category.

He's a two-time gold medalist at the 2019 and 2020 African Junior Championships at 86kg.

Hosts Egypt led the way with four quotas while Australia and Guinea Bissau won two each. Samoa, Algeria, South Africa and Nigeria won one each to complete the line-up.

The African and Oceania OG qualifiers saw 192 wrestlers from 33 countries competing to earn the 36 quotas for the Paris Games.

Samoa qualified for the first time in Freestyle as Gaku Akazawa dominated his bouts to win the quota.

The Paris Games will also mark the first time a Samoan wrestler has been at the Olympics since Sydney 2000.