GARY LEMKE in Paris
Louzanne Coetzee doubled Team SA’s medal tally at the 2024 Paralympics when she won the bronze medal in the 1500m at the Stade de France on Monday morning. The race produced a world record for the T11 class with Ethiopia’s Yayesh Tesfaw taking gold in 4min 27.68sec.
Coetzee herself sliced five seconds off the time she had put up in winning silver in Tokyo and hit the line with her guide Estean Badenhorst in 4:35.49, a personal best in the fastest race ever run for T11 athletes.
The 31-year-old was a double medallist at Tokyo 2020 where she had earned the silver medal in the 1500m and the bronze in the marathon, highlighting her versatility. She again competes in the marathon on the final day of competition on Sunday, although offers full transparency in saying it was the 1500m that was the target for Paris.
“I’m super chuffed,” the three-time Paralympian said afterwards. “Estean has been such a great support throughout the year and since Tokyo and there has been so much support from family and friends. I really thought that we would get close to 4:40, but now we’re closer to 4:30 so I’m not going to stop any time soon.
“The race went according to plan and we ran controlled splits. At the 250m we started going past others but when Estian said 4:15 at 1.4km, I was like ‘what’? Then it was just the home straight.
“For me the objective was to be in the final. Then, closer to the time we could see that I was getting into more PB shape but I wouldn’t have guessed five seconds!”
The pace was on from the start as the Kenyan double act in the field, along with eventual winner Tesfaw and China’s Shanshan He pulled away from Coetzee who ran most of the race in fifth spot, and seemingly a long way out of the medals.
However, the South Africans stayed patient and started to make steady progress from the final bell signalling 400m to go. Still, they were about 25 metres behind the fourth-placed runners. Coetzee and her guide pushed the accelerator with 250m to go and they closed the gap on those ahead of them, getting themselves into third position with 100m remaining.
They were never going to close on the gold and silver medallist, but Coetzee’s 4:35.49 personal best time was a full six seconds ahead of fourth place.
This was the second medal for Team SA at these Paralympics after Mpumelelo Mhlongo had won gold in the men’s T44 100m on Sunday night.
Photo: ROGER SEDRES
SOURCED FROM TEAM SA.
