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Overwhelmed, says Louzanne about her Paralympic medal

30 August 2021 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Roger Sedres (Gallo Images)

Lozanne Coetzee_Gallo read more — Louzanne Coetzee and her guide Estean Badenhorst won the silver medal in the 1 500 m in a new African time at the Paralympics in Tokyo on Monday.

It’s been eight years of waiting, but Louzanne Coetzee will finally hang a medal around her neck, and this on the biggest sporting stage in the world.

Coetzee won the silver medal in the 1 500 m women’s T11 final at the Paralympics in Tokyo on Monday (30 August 2021) morning. In the process, she and her guide, Estean Badenhorst, set a new African record (4:40.96).

They are both former University of the Free State (UFS) students, and Coetzee is a resident on the Bloemfontein Campus.

“I have been competing for eight years and this is my first medal. I’m just overwhelmed. I couldn’t have asked for a better race, a better guide, and better preparation. I’m just very thankful for how everything went down,” Coetzee said.

The race took place at 32 degrees with a humidity percentage of 70 plus. Coetzee’s time was only 2.04 seconds off the previous world record.

She has had a stunning Games so far. In Sunday’s heat, she improved her personal best from 4:51.65 to 4:49.24 and ran another eight seconds quicker on Monday.

It was also a personal triumph for Coetzee, who experienced the disappointment of being disqualified five years ago at the Rio Games, after a ruling that her guide had stepped in front of her.

Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, saluted Coetzee. “We are tremendously proud of what she has achieved throughout her athletics career. She has represented the country numerous times at international sport events and winning a silver medal and setting a new African record is the culmination of hard work and exceptional endurance.”

“The entire university community was rooting for her; she has done us and her country extremely proud,” Prof Petersen said.

Coetzee still has the T12 marathon on Sunday on her schedule.

News Archive

Spring graduation ceremony

2006-09-15

A three-year old boy from Welkom, Kearabetswe Mokoena, stole the show at the spring graduation ceremony of the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein. He was dressed in an exact replica of the academic outfit worn by his father, Mr Ketseletso Mokoena, who obtained his LLB degree from the UFS. The outfit was made by Kearabetswe’s mother Mrs Ennie Mokoena. From the left are Mr Mokoena, his son Kearabetswe, and Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.
Photo: Lacea Loader

Prof Mos Thulare (acting Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Technology) obtained his LL.B. degree during the spring graduation ceremony of the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein. On the photo, he is congratulated by Prof Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS).
Photo: Stephen Collett

Altogether five master's degrees in Physics were awarded during the University of the Free State's (UFS) spring graduation ceremony in Bloemfontein. It is the biggest group of master's degrees in the history of the UFS Department of Physics awarded during a graduation ceremony. From the left are: Richard Harris, Puleng Ramoshebi, Prof Hendrik Swart (Head of the UFS Department of Physics), Lisa Coetsee and Etienne Wurth. One of the students, Gerhard Olivier, was absent when the photo was taken.
Photo: Lacea Loader

Altogether 29 doctorates were awarded during the University of the Free State's (UFS) spring graduation ceremony in Bloemfontein. Some of the doctorandi are from the left: Drs Nicholas Mtshali (Chemistry), Candice Jansen van Rensburg (Zoology), Ina Claassens (Physics), Martin Ntwaeaborwa (Physics) and Vicki Tolmay (Plant Breeding).
Photo: Lacea Loader

A great number of students from Africa were among the 29 students who received their doctorates during the University of the Free State's (UFS) spring graduation ceremony in Bloemfontein. From the left are: Drs Amaha Kassahun (Grassland Science) and Tolessa Debele (Soil Science), both are from Ethiopia.

A number of doctorates were awarded to students across the world during the University of the Free State's (UFS) spring graduation ceremony held in Bloemfontein. From the left are: Drs Eli Kohn (from Israel who received a doctorate in Near Eastern Studies), Prof Philip Nel (UFS Department of Afro-asiatic. Studies, Sign Language and Language Practice), Prof Annette Wilkinson (Centre for Higher Education Studies and Development at the UFS) and Dr Padmanabhan Nair (from India who received a doctorate in Higher Education Studies). Prof Nel was Dr Kohn's co-promoter and Prof Wilkinson was Dr Nair's promoter.
Photo: Stephen Collett

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