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Premier Nomvula Mokonyane on Wednesday joined thousands of South Africans who have congratulated swimmers Chad Les Clos and Cameron van der Burgh for ensuring that the South African Olympic Team brought home gold medals from this year’s London Olympics, which kicked off in style last Friday.

In a nail-biting finish, Durban’s Les Clos pipped Michael Phelps, the best Olympian of all time, to clinch the 200m butterfly race – sending the country into a state of pride and euphoria. He clocked 1:52:96 – just ahead of the legendary Phelps.

Les Clos’ heroics followed those of Tshwane-born Cameron van der Burgh on Sunday night.

Mokonyane said van der Burgh’s performance in the men’s 100m breaststroke final is proof that Gauteng is, indeed, “the Home of Champions”.

“Cameron van der Burgh is our ‘golden boy’ and we are happy that he is flying the South African flag so high in London. His exploits in the swimming pool show exactly what young people from our province can achieve with adequate support and self-belief,” Mokonyane said.

Van der Burgh finished his race in a time of 58.46, smashing the previous record by some 0.12 seconds.

Mokonyane again wished the rest of the SA Team well, saying the Gauteng Province was behind them all the way.