Louzanne Coetzee won Team SA’s third medal of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics when she took the silver in the women’s 1500m final (T11). With her guide Estean Badenhorst, the 28-year-old had come into the race with the personal best of 4min 49.24sec achieved in qualifying.
She went even faster on Monday morning, stopping the clock in a new African record 4:40.96, only two seconds off the old world record. That time was broken by gold medallist Monica Rodriguez Saavedra in the final, with a 4:37.40.
Defending men’s 400m (T38) champion from Rio 2016, Dyan Buis, stamped himself as a strong gold-medal candidate when he easily won his heat in a season’s best time and send out a message to the opposition that he will not give up his title easily.
( ) = SA time
HOW THEY FARED ON MONDAY
ARCHERY
Men’s Individual 1/8 elimination: Shaun Anderson lost to Helcio Luiz of Brazil, on a shootout (6-9) after the scores had been locked at 123-123 after five sets. The South African had showed great character in coming from behind in the match to force the sudden-death shootout. He trained 28-23 after the first set, 52-50 after two sets, 80-77 after three sets and then pulled back to 102-all after four sets and 123-all after five sets. In the shootout he went first and had a ‘6’, to which his opponent responded with a ‘9’.
ATHLETICS
Women’s 1500m (T11), final: Louzanne Coetzee (guide Estean Badenhorst) took silver in a new African record 4:40.96.
Men’s 400m (T38), heats: Dyan Buis, the defending champion from Rio 2016, scorched to a season’s best 51.29sec to easily win his heat and qualify for the final. It left him second fastest into the final and he is considered a strong medal candidate again
Men’s 100m (T64), final: Mpumelelo Mhlongo finished 5th in a new Paralympic record 11.03 (T44). Gold went to Germany’s Felix Streng in 10.76 Mhlongo holds the WR in the T44 category with 11.00
Men’s 100m (T63), final: Puseletso Mabote finished 7th in 12.66sec. The winner Anton Prokhorov set a new WR 12.04
EQUESTRIAN
Dressage Individual Freestyle Test (Grade IV): Philippa Johnson-Dwyer finished eighth on Just In Time with 71,155 points
WHEELCHAIR TENNIS
Wheelchair tennis – Women’s singles, 2nd round: No6 seed Kgothatso Montjane lost to China’s Ziying Wang 6-2, 6-3 in 1hr 15min at Ariake Tennis Court