Louzanne Coetzee of Bloemfontein won the bronze medal Monday morning (2/9) in the Women’s T11 1500m at the Paralympic Games in Paris.

In an incredibly fast race, all three of the medallists dipped below the previous Paralympic record.

World record holder Yayesh Gate Tesfaw of Ethiopia shattered her benchmark by more than 4 and a half seconds to set a new record at 4:27.68.

Following her race, Coetzee said it went according to plan, and she’d never have believed that she would shave five seconds off her previous personal best time.

No stopping soon

“I’m super chuffed—Estean has been such great support throughout the year, and since Tokyo and there has been so much support from family and friends,” said Coetzee. “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 Estean 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!”

?? BRONZE MEDAL ALERT! ??

????? Louzanne Coetzee just won bronze in the T11 1500m final with a Personal Best! ???? What a race! ???? #TeamSA #ForMyCountry #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/Tae8gBxb88

— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) September 2, 2024

Coetzee (31) ran another personal best time to clinch the bronze in 4:35.49 for her third Paralympic Medal. In Tokyo, she won the 1500m silver and the marathon bronze.

Shanshan of China, who ran the fastest time in the heats, took the silver medal in 4:32.82.

Coetzee now turns her attention to the marathon that she will run with Claus Kempen at 8:00 on Sunday morning.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg