Taljaard reflects on so close but yet so far

There’s a lot of hard luck stories in sport and they reckon that fourth position is the worst place to finish when there are three medals up for grabs. Veteran Team SA weightlifter Johanni Taljaard is the latest to have that sinking feeling, narrowly missing out on a Commonwealth Games bronze in Glasgow on Monday.

The 41-year-old, who competed for Team SA at the 2018 Commonwealth Games before going off to start raising a family, had a combined total of 175kg in the 53kg weight category, after results of 78kg in the snatch and 97kg in the clean & jerk. It left her 3kg short of taking bronze and it looked as though she might have stolen it when seemingly completing 101kg with her last effort in the clean & jerk.

However, the judges ruled that she’d had a bent elbow and drew a line through her score and Taljaard couldn’t contest the ruling – weightlifting’s version of the TMO or VAR – because her team had already used it up early in the competition.

“Unfortunately, if there’s the slightest bend of an elbow you don’t get it but I must wasn’t sharp enough on that lift, I think the nerves got the better of me today. I felt a bit shaky and couldn’t switch myself ‘on’. It’s sad to be so close and feel the medal slipping away out of your hands but it is what it is. We didn’t have the challenge card to challenge the last lift as it was used in the snatch but I knew it was a wasted challenge. If I go back to watch the video it will make me more bitter, so it is what it is.

“My friend convinced me last year to come out of ‘retirement’. I thought I was done, working full-time and attending to a toddler over weekends.”

However, she decided to give it another go, qualified for the Commonwealth Games and “surprised herself” by getting as far as she did. While gutted at the outcome, it has given her renewed energy to try make the LA 2028 Olympic team. “Now, I definitely want to give Olympic qualification one more go and see what happens. As an athlete you will always be hungry for more.”

With the mid-summer rain falling over the city of Glasgow, the weightlifters have been competing in the SEC Hall near to where they are staying.

Taljaard was the second Team SA weightlifter in action at these Games. On Sunday, Zach Snyman recorded a DNF in the 65kg division, after lifting 105kg in the snatch and then being forced to withdraw.

Also taking part on Monday were Anneke Spies-Burger (58kg) and Jon-Antohein Phillips (79kg). Spies-Burger finished seventh with a total of 178kg. She had a score of 77kg and 101kg.