South African Judoka Breytenbach Wins Historic Bronze in 33 Seconds at Glasgow Games

Donné Breytenbach needed just 33 seconds to clinch her bronze medal. The 24-year-old judoka from Pretoria faced Mauritius’ Marie Begue in the bronze medal match of the women’s 57kg competition at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow on Friday, 31 July 2026, and finished it almost before it began, delivering an ippon that gave South Africa its first judo medal of the Games.

Her path to that moment had started earlier the same afternoon with an even faster win. Zambia’s Sylvia Nawila fell to an ippon in 35 seconds, and Breytenbach moved through to the semi-final, where India’s Yamini Mourya stopped her with an ippon of her own. That defeat dropped her into the bronze medal contest, which she handled with the same decisive efficiency she had shown all day.

The family story continues Saturday. Her brother Thomas competes in his judo event, while teammate Skye Knoester opens the women’s 63kg division the same day against Ghana’s Elizabeth Oduro, with medal matches scheduled for late afternoon.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s netballers arrived at The Hydro with something to prove. Four years earlier in Birmingham, Uganda had beaten them in a classification match. On Friday they reversed that result, winning 62-54 to finish fifth overall. It was not a straightforward afternoon. South Africa trailed 17-12 after the opening quarter, and coach Jenny van Dyk had chosen to rest Karla Pretorius, Owethu Ngubane and Tarle Mathe from the start. The introduction of Mathe at centre, replacing Refiloe Nketsa, changed the match’s character entirely. South Africa outscored Uganda 20-11 in the second quarter, led 32-28 at halftime, and the advantage only grew from there, reaching 48-41 by the end of the third quarter. Elmere van der Berg was the steadiest presence throughout, converting 48 goals from 49 attempts.

Track and field brought more mixed fortunes. Liezel Gouws competed in the T38 long jump final and placed seventh with a season’s best of 4.38m, backed by two jumps of 4.35m. She returns Saturday for the T38 200m final alongside Sheryl James. At the velodrome, S’annara Grove finished 13th in the 10km scratch race, with Australia’s Georgina Baker taking gold. Bridgit Herselman went down 6-5, 6-3 to Malaysia’s unbeaten Emma Saroji and out of singles medal contention.

Saturday’s schedule carries real weight for South Africa. Jo-Ané van Dyk, an Olympic silver medallist, throws in the women’s javelin final during the evening session at Scotstoun. Grove races the 25km points race final at the velodrome. Herselman closes her singles campaign against India’s Nayanmoni Saikia in the early evening, a match that carries no medal stakes but offers a chance to finish on her own terms.

Whether Knoester can follow Breytenbach onto the judo podium is the question that will shape much of the afternoon.