Only a day after the opening ceremony, South Africa had their first medal: a bronze in the men's Sevens rugby after claiming a tightly fought 24-19 victory over Australia on Saturday evening in the third-place playoff.

Listen to this article 4 min Listen to this article 4 min Before the start of the Olympic Games, South Africa's quest for medals in Paris appeared as daunting a challenge as it was in Tokyo three years ago.

Then it was only Tatjana Smith (née Schoenmaker) and Bianca Buitendag who won medals for the country.

But already, only a day after the opening ceremony, South Africa had their first medal: a bronze in the men's Sevens rugby after claiming a tight-fought 24-19 victory over Australia on Saturday evening in the third-place playoff.

Despite it being South Africa's second bronze medal in the event -- SA's star-studded Sevens side finished third in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 -- the chances of repeating the achievement were a lot slimmer this time.

The men's Sevens team endured one of their worst seasons yet and were the last side to qualify for the Olympics through a repechage tournament a few weeks before the start of the Games.

"With everything in place, to think where we're coming from, the last side to qualify, to come away with the bronze medal, a lot of credit to the team," said head coach Philip Snyman.

"It's...