An 18-year old matric student, Michael Houlie from Bishops Diocesan College in Cape Town, has received a gold medal and broke a record at the Youth Olympics held in Buenos Aires this month.
Houlie is an athlete at heart and has been dubbed the ‘golden boy in the pool’ by Bishops Diocesan College in their most recent congratulatory Facebook post. A swimming sensation of South Africa, Houlie scooped up a gold medal for the mens 50m breaststroke final, completing the race in 27.51 seconds.
Not only did he manage to make first place but also set a new record for completing the 100m event at the Youth Olympics in the fastest time in the history of the prestigious sporting event.
Houlie did not stop there and also broke the South African record for boys aged 18 years, beating the previous record to qualify for the finals.
The previous record was held by Olympian swimmer Cameron van der Burgh.
Competing earlier this year in the Common Wealth Games held in Australia’s Gold Coast, Houlie shared how thankful he was to learn from his hero and mentor, Van der Burg.
The gold medalist took to social media to share his emotions about winning.
“Youth Olympic Gold…. a dream come true,” he said.
The Youth Olympic Games is an elite sporting event, calling all talented young individuals from all over the world aged 15 -18 and is hosted in both summer and winter.
This year, it was hosted from 6 to 18 October 2018.
Cape Town can proudly beam as we have two local young athletes who have managed to win gold for our city, as Luke Davids brought home gold for the 100m sprint at the Youth Olympics.
We wish our local stars the best for their upcoming exams and thank them for their dedication and hard work at the Youth Olympics.
Picture: Facebook/ Michael Houlie