OBAKENG MELETSE
Simone Kruger lived up to all expectations and conquered the world’s biggest stage to secure South Africa’s second gold medal, as the curtain on the Paris Paralympic Games drew to a close yesterday.
Track and field again dominated SA’s medal tally, with four of the six medals coming from various events in the iconic Stade de France. The remaining two medals were secured by wheelchair tennis and road cycling.
Kruger, in her second Paralympics, improved on her fifth place finish three years ago in Tokyo. She secured a Paralympic record with a winning throw of 38.7m in the F38 discus.
The 19-year-old fought off competition from China’s Yingli Li (38.64m), as well as a 38.36m throw from Colombian Xiomara Saldarriaga to triumph.
“It was an amazing thing for me to be in such a close competition, the closer the competition the more I know I have to do better,” she said after her victory.
“Any one of the three of us could have got the medal. I think with the distances, if I threw what I did earlier this year maybe it was going to be easier but I didn’t, so just having this intense competition was amazing for me.
“In my training, what we started doing was making a point system, so every single time you throw further you get more points, and then you get a reward at the end. That system made it easier for me because I had to force myself to throw further, but also the atmosphere – the crowd – and God’s grace made it possible.”
Flag-bearer Mpumelelo Mhlongo – in his third Games – led South Africa out in the opening ceremony, and he delivered on the big stage again, especially as the record holder in the T44 100m and 200m categories.
Mhlongo had the power and composure, securing South Africa’s first medal of the Games with a golden performance, which slowly inspired the medal count to tick over.
He seemed to have narrowly missed out on a second medal after he finished fourth in the men’s 200m T64 final, but a line infringement by German Felix Streng earned him a disqualification, with Netherlands’ Levi Vloet (T64) and Mhlongo promoted one place up to second and third respectively.
Meanwhile, Louzanne Coetzee picked up from where she left off three years ago at the Tokyo Games. With the guidance of Erasmus Badenhorst, the pair won a bronze medal with a third-place finish in the Women’s T11 1500m final – her third Paralympics medal in three years.
Her seventh place finish in the T12 Women’s Marathon, thereafter, was done in a season best time of 3:25.53.
Cyclist Pieter du Preez won his fourth career bronze medal in the men’s Individual time trial H1 final, following on the gold medal win in the same event in Tokyo. The pairing of Lucas Sithole and Donald Ramphadi made it two medals on the same day after winning their men’s quad doubles bronze medal match against Brazil to win Africa’s first medal in wheelchair tennis.
Other highlights yesterday included archer Shaun Anderson finishing within the last four, narrowly missing out on a medal to China’s Zhang Tianxin 136-134. It is a huge step forward for the 51-year-old after having been knocked out in the first rounds in two previous Paralympic Games.
Elsewhere, South Africa made their first appearance in Boccia at the Games with Karabo Morapedi and Elanza Jordaan both returning without any victories but a lot of lessons, while Kirsty Weir’s first Paralympics appearance ended in eighth position.
Former gold medallist at the 2008 Beijing Games, Phillipa Johnson Dwyer, could not add to the four medals she had won previously. Ndyebo Lamani suffered an Ippon loss in the Judo Men’s 73 kg – J1 Elimination round of 16 to his Argentine opponent Eduardo Gauto.