Centurion - As much of the focus of the TotalSports Two Oceans Marathon will be on the top contenders, Paralympic runner Louzanne Coetzee will be using the stage not only to help pace some of her fellow runners, but to gain exposure for a segment of sports professionals who are seldom in the limelight.
Coetzee, 28, won silver in the women’s 1500m T11 and bronze in the Marathon T12 at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo last year. Coetzee competes in the T11 category for athletes with the highest level of visual impairment.
Among her other achievements is breaking the world record in the T11 women’s 5000m in 2018.
Now, Coetzee - who runs with a guide - will be taking part in the Two Oceans Marathon 21.1km race on April 16 as a pacer for runners aiming to break two hours for the distance.
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This will be an easy task for Coetzee who has a 42.2km Personal Best of 3:11:13.
Though the race won’t be a physical challenge for Coetzee, she is taking her job seriously and using the platform to gain exposure for Paralympic sports in South Africa.
“It is going to be a training run. When you’re a pacer, you have to be ready to pace the specific time,” Coetzee told IOL sport.
“I hope to help people to achieve their specific time goals. For me it’s going to be a privilege to support those who want to run two hours for the half marathon. It’s also a cool platform to get exposure and to educate those people who don’t know about Paralympic sport and how my specific sport works - running with a guide.”
Paralympic athletes, at the moment in South Africa, receive nowhere near the same kind of coverage that able-bodied sports receive. This despite the fact that most Paralympic competitors like Coetzee are professional athletes.
In fact, as a Paralympic athlete it can be argued they need more support - especially financial - than able-bodied sportspeople if they are to reach their potential.
Coetzee, however, is not deterred by a general lack of funding but instead always aims to make the most of every opportunity she has to showcase her talent.
“I think it’s always important to get Paralympic athletes exposure in the big events, because we’re not the same as other elite athletes so you can’t really form part of that group, even though you are also a professional athlete. But when it happens you have to make the most of it, in terms of educating people and creating awareness. But it’s about sharing your story, hearing other people’s stories and connecting on a human level.”
Coetzee explained her approach to competing, without much financial assistance from sponsors.
“You kind of have to sustain yourself, there’s no real grade funding. For Para sport, funding is obviously more of a challenge. There are two main reasons for this in my opinion. Para sport doesn’t get as much airtime and exposure as able-bodied sport so that will obviously affect sponsorship.
“I don’t think sponsors are always sure what to do with disabled athletes and I think that’s why there’s also a lack of funding.
At the moment, Coetzee only has one sponsor - Hoca for her shoes - and for a Paralympic medal-winning athlete that is a sad indictment of the situation in South Africa with regards to funding its sportspeople who are not top soccer, rugby or cricket players.
“I’m sponsored by Hoca for my shoes, so I’m very fortunate in that department. There’s no other formal sponsor on board [with me]. It’s important to focus on how to make things more equal and not just look at the inequalities. I definitely think there is room for improvement.”
Looking back at her achievements at the Tokyo Olympics, Coetzee is filled with emotion when asked what those medals mean to her.
“It’s a testimony that hard work pays off. When you want to achieve something you have to commit wholeheartedly. I really committed myself to Para sport for eight years and that was my first international medal. I’ve actually been around for a while, coming fourth and fifth a lot. So for the first time, I managed to get two medals last year. It was also a testimony to the support I had from friends and family, my boyfriend and my guides. No athlete can do it without a support system.”
As for her long-term goals, Coetzee has lofty ambitions for the next Paralympic Games which will take place in Paris 2024.
“One of my long term goals is to compete at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. My long term goal is to do the 1500m and marathon there, and aim for world records in both events.”
With a personal best of 4:40 in the 1500m, Coetzee said she hopes to improve that to under 4:30 in Paris which would earn her the world record. As for the marathon, she aims to take over 11 minutes off her time to run under three hours.
Lofty goals indeed, but given her talent and strong support from her guides Claus Kempen and Estiaan Badenhorst as well as her coach Girda Siebert, one has to back Coetzee to succeed.