Sizwe Ndlovu

On the Podium

Sizwe Ndlovu became the first black African to win an Olympic rowing gold, as part of the South Africa's lightweight coxless four in 2012. He describes that day as changing the rest of his life.

Sizwe tells us about the challenges of growing up in a township, and how the end of apartheid and the sport of rowing helped him carve out a life he couldn't even have imagined possible as a child.

A remarkable and inspirational story of achievement and perseverance, his victory became a symbol of hope for the post-apartheid South Africa.