On Monday, Coetzee won silver in the women’s 1,500m T11 in a time of 4:48.13. The gold medal was taken by Nancy Chelangat Koech of Kenya and the bronze medal by Kenya’s Mary Waithera Njoroge.
Paralympic medallist, Louzanne Coetzee, and her guide, Estean Badenhorst, compete at the World Para Athletics Championships in France on 10 July 2023. Picture: Andries Kruger
JOHANNESBURG – Paralympic medallist Louzanne Coetzee has won South Africa’s first medal at the World Para Athletics Championships in France.
On Monday, Coetzee won silver in the women’s 1,500m T11 in a time of 4:48.13. The gold medal was taken by Nancy Chelangat Koech of Kenya and the bronze medal by Kenya’s Mary Waithera Njoroge.
The World Para Athletics Championships is the second most important sporting event in the disabled sports calendar after the Paralympic Games and are held every two years.
On Sunday, the Para-athlete and her guide, Estean Badenhorst, finished second in their heat to qualify for Monday’s final.
The women’s 1500m T11 medallists:
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@ Getty Images pic.twitter.com/WBqSPISEJG
‘ #ParaAthletics #PARIS23 (@ParaAthletics) July 10, 2023
Coetzee won silver in the women’s 1,500m T11 and bronze in the Marathon T12 at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.
The championships are crucial in the athletes’ pursuit of securing slots for the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. Any athlete finishing in the top 4 or better will qualify for one slot.
The athlete was born with Leber congenital amaurosis, a condition that results in undeveloped retinas and loss of vision.
“I grew up in Bloemfontein in the Free State. I am blind. I have what they call Leber congenital amaurosis. Basically, it just means that my retinas didn’t develop properly when I was in my mom’s womb, so, basically, I was born blind, so it’s something that I’ve always lived with,” she said to Eyewitness News.
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She competes in the T11 category for athletes with the highest level of visual impairment.
Coetzee’s other achievement is breaking the world record in the T11 women’s 5,000m in 2018.
The completely blind track, road, and cross-country Paralympian started her running career in her first year at the University of the Free State (UFS) at the age of 19.
“I started running in my first year at university at a recreational level and competing for my residence at an athletics track meet. After that, I started to get coaching for sprints, but that didn’t work out, so I moved over to longer distances. And then I actually competed at my first national championships in my second year at university,” she said.
Coetzee has broken the 5,000m world record and the 1,500m African record in her disability category (T11).
The World Para Athletics Championships are from 8 to 17 July and South Africa sent a team of 26 athletes to represent the country.
SOUTH AFRICA’S PARA-WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
Ntombizanele Situ, Tezna Abrahams, Sheryl James, Louzanne Coetzee, Liezel Gouws, Yane van der Merwe, Juane le Roux, Simone Kruger, Ndodomzi Ntutu, Mpumelelo Mhlongo, Puseletso Mabote, Tebogo Mofokeng, Refilwe Mosifane, Jaco Smit, Kerwin Noemdo, Tyrone Pillay, Brandon Beack, Pieter du PreezGuides: Erasmus Badenhorst, Clause Kempen.
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