LOUZANNE Coetzee produced a new personal best time to clinch a silver medal in the women's 1 500m T11 final at the Tokyo Paralympics on Monday, adding that she "couldn't have asked for more".
It was the third medal for Team South Africa, following the golds from fellow athletics competitors Anrune Weyers and Ntando Mahlangu.
The T11 category is for athletes with a visual impairment, and Coetzee had Estean Badenhorst as her guide.
The 28-year-old had been disqualified in the 1 500m at Rio 2016 after it was ruled that her guide had stepped in front of her.
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But this time around, in hot and humid conditions on Monday, she finished second in a time of four minutes 40.96 seconds (4:40.96), not far off champion Monica Rodriguez Saavedra of Mexico, who claimed gold with a world-record mark of 4:37.40.
"I'm very overwhelmed, and I couldn’t have asked for a better race, a better guide or for better preparation. I am very thankful for just how everything went down," said a tearful Coetzee afterwards.
Badenhorst added: "It's all about teamwork, and we came here as the dream team, and we took a lot of inspiration from all of South Africa and all our family, and everybody.
"We could feel the energy, and we had everything that we had to give. It came on the track, and we are just very thankful and privileged and very happy for this result."
Next up for Coetzee is the women’s T12 marathon on Sunday.
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IOL Sport