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24 September 2024
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Story Aimée Barlow
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Photo Supplied
Louzanne Coetzee, who made history by clinching South Africa’s second medal at the Paralympics, earning a bronze in the T11 1 500 m women’s final with a personal best time, received a warm reception when she recently returned home.
The celebrated Paralympic bronze medallist Louzanne Coetzee returned home to a warm welcome at the Bram Fischer International Airport on 10 September 2024.
Family, friends, colleagues, Arista students, and media gathered to celebrate her remarkable achievement and show their support.
Coetzee – KovsieSport Coordinator of Parasport at the University of the Free State (UFS) – made history by clinching South Africa’s second medal at the Paralympics, earning a bronze in the T11 1 500 m women’s final with a personal best time. Her dedication and hard work have not only brought her personal glory but have also inspired many in her community.
Among those present to welcome her was Jerry Laka, Director of KovsieSport, who expressed his pride in Coetzee’s accomplishments.
"We as KovsieSport are so proud of our colleague Coetzee. It is amazing to see a product of KovsieSport achieving greatness on the world stage. She is truly an inspiration to us all," said Laka.
“I am so glad to be back, and to have Laka and my colleagues here. It means the world to me. Having Laka here shows his commitment to my career and ParaSport and his staff in general,” shared Coetzee, her gratitude evident.
She further expressed her appreciation for the support she received, stating, “I don’t have the words to describe how thankful I am for the support from the UFS community.”
Coetzee’s return is a proud moment for South Africa and the University of the Free State (UFS) community. Welcome home, Louzanne! Your achievements have made us all proud!
Kovsies keep winning, this time in athletics
2015-04-23
Wayde van Niekerk |
UFS sprinting star, Wayde van Niekerk, is stacking gold upon gold this season.
This past weekend within 72 hours, Van Niekerk won the 400m event twice. On Saturday 18 April 2015, the 22-year old claimed gold at the South African senior athletic championship in Stellenbosch. Only two days later, he also placed first during the Varsity Athletics event also held in Stellenbosch.
His time of 44.91 seconds over the weekend was just slightly slower than his national record of 44.38 that he slotted in 2014. On Monday night 20 April, his time was 46.08.
Van Niekerk ran only the 400m during these previous two events. However, next week he will compete in both the 200m and 400m events at the South African Student Championship.
Another (former) Kovsie athlete, Johan Cronjé, also won gold at the senior championship over the weekend. The 1500m runner was placed first for his eighth national title with a time of 3:37.93.