Exclusive: Zenani Kraai Hopes to Have Inspired the Next Generation after Paris Olympics Debut

When Zenani Kraai represented the South African men’s hockey team at the recently concluded Paris Olympics, he became only the second player from Cape Town’s Langa Hockey Club to do so.

The first was Lungile Tsolekile who dawned the green and gold of South Africa at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Albeit results didn’t go their way, the showpiece was a monumental one for Kraai and his community. He returned from Paris on the eve of the Game’s closing ceremony and received a hero’s welcome.  

Soon after, he caught up with SportsBoom.com, and in the interview discussed his experience at the Games, his team’s performances, what they can take away from the tournament, and how he hopes to have inspired the next generation at the Langa Hockey Club.

When the SA Men’s hockey team arrived at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the message was quite clear: Perform well, and fight for a quarter-final spot.

However, the odds were stacked against Kraai and his teammates. 

They finished in ninth spot behind Argentina, one place higher than Tokyo 2020. 

The Olympic dream

For Kraai, representing his country at the Olympics was never a far-fetched dream. 

It’s something he’s dreamt about from a young age, and over the years applied pressure by putting in the hard work to achieve the goal.

“It wasn’t an easy journey, I had to work extremely hard to get into the team, but all of it was worth it in the end,” he told SportsBoom.com.

“When I heard my name during the announcement, I couldn’t believe it. I was watching TV with my family, and our names were coming up, and I was anxious.”

“Everyone jumped up and started screaming when my name popped up, it was a special moment, one that I’ll never forget.”

In his team, Kraai was one of the younger players making his Olympic debut. He described his experience in the Olympic village as “unreal.”

“It was an unreal experience but also enjoyable,” he said.

“I got to see all the famous athletes I normally see on TV, sat next to them, had conversations with them like normal people. It was like a dream.”

In Paris, South Africa lost three of their five matches against the Netherlands (5-3), Germany (5-1), and Spain (3-0).

They drew 2-2 with Great Britain, before ending the tournament on a high with a dominant 5-2 win against France.

The team didn’t perform badly. They were more confident this time around, had a positive aura, and showed glimpses of what they could achieve with proper financial backing.

Despite the disappointing results, Kraai believes there are many positives to take away from the event. 

“I think one of the things we need to do is to stay positive,” he said.

“We lost the small moments, for instance, against Great Britain we were meant to win that game and things didn’t go our way and that disappointed us.”

“We had momentum heading into the Games, but we just couldn’t carry it out.”

“With that said, there’s a lot to learn. We played against top teams, and now we see where we stand against those teams, and we can prepare much better heading into the future.”