South Africa’s le Clos says home destroyed during Commonwealth record run

Olympic champion swimmer Chad le Clos says his home in South Africa was destroyed in a fire a day after he became the most decorated athlete in Commonwealth Games history.

Le Clos said in a post on his Instagram account that his apartment in Cape Town was one of several in the block to be gutted in a fire on July 30 while he was at the games in Glasgow, Scotland.

The 34-year-old South African won a record 21st Commonwealth Games medal a day before the fire with a bronze in the men’s 4×100-metre medley relay.

“On the evening of 30 July, amidst breaking the all-time Commonwealth record, a fire started in my apartment block, which quickly spread to my home,” le Clos posted late on Tuesday. “Sadly my home, where I’ve lived for more than a decade, burnt down and there is nothing left to salvage.”

He offered his condolences on the death of an elderly man in the apartment block fire in the oceanside suburb of Sea Point. He said the man had been his neighbour for many years.

Le Clos said his foundation would raise money to help other neighbours rebuild their homes.

The athlete won gold in the 200-metre butterfly at the 2012 London Olympics and has won four Olympic medals and 16 world titles in total.

Glasgow was his fifth Commonwealth Games, and he has said he plans to compete at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, United States.