'South Africa's performance is quite amazing' - Tsholofelo Thipe (Olympian, 2008 Beijing)

Lester Kiewit speaks to Tsholofelo Thipe, a South African Olympic athlete who competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Tsholofelo Thipe was a South African sprinter, who specialised in the 400-metre event.

She was one of the first black women to represent South Africa on the track when she competed in the 400-metre race at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Thipe ran in the sixth heat against seven other athletes, including Jamaica's Novlene Williams and Great Britain's Nicola Sanders and finished the race in sixth place, seventy-three hundredths (0.73) of a second ahead of Albania's Klodiana Shala, with a time of 54.11 seconds. 

Knowing what it feels like to perform for her country in the Olympics, Kiewit asks Thipe about South Africa's overall performance so far... 

Thipe says it was 'heartbreaking' to watch South Africa's Akani Simbine 'just miss' the bronze medal.

The sprinter finished fourth in the men's 100m final, clocking a national record of 9.82 seconds.

Thipe says to keep an eye on Benjamin Richardson if he makes it to the Olympics in four years.

She believes our relay team has the potential to earn those coveted medals. 

"The performance of South Africa overall is quite amazing," says Thipe.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.