South Africa’s Puseletso Mabote could only manage fifth place in the men’s 100m T63 final on Monday night despite breaking the Paralympic record in the qualifying heats.
In the first round heats in Paris on Sunday, Mabote ran an impressive time of 12.05 to break the Paralympic record, and was installed as one of the favourites for Monday’s final.
However, when the main race rolled around on Monday evening, Mabote was not able to replicate his performance, and crossed the line in a time of 12.16.
🏃♂️ Well Done, Puseletso! 🏃♂️
— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) September 2, 2024
Puseletso Mabote finished 5th in the T63 100m final with a time of 12.16 seconds! 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 A fantastic effort—South Africa stands behind you! 💚![CDATA[]]>💛
#TeamSA #ForMyCountry #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/DpYiDtybjM
The race was won by the Ezra Frech of the United States in a time of 12.06, while Daniel Wagner of Denmark finished third, and Brazil’s Vinicius Gonalves Rodriguez was third.
Earlier in the day, Louzanne Coetzee won the bronze medal in the women’s 1500m - T11 final.
Coetzee and her guide Estean Badenhorst crossed the finish line in a personal best time of 4:35.49.
“I’m super chuffed,” Coetzee said after the race, as quoted by Sascoc. “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 race was won by Ethiopia’s Yayesh Tesfaw, who produced a word record T11 time of 4:27.68.
Also on Monday, Team South Africa’s Kirsty Weir crossed the finish line in eighth place in a time of 1:21:14 in the women’s para triathlon PTS4.
IOL Sport