Thipe was one of the first black women to represent South Africa on the track when she competed in the 400 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She ran in the sixth heat against seven other athletes, including Jamaica's Novlene Williams and Great Britain's Nicola Sanders, both of whom were heavy favorites in this event. She 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. Thipe failed to advance into the semi-finals, as she placed forty-third overall, and finished below the three automatic-advancement slots for the next round.