Five standout moments for Team SA’s Paralympians
OBAKENG MELETSE
The 2024 Paris Paralympic Games came to an end on Sunday and Team South Africa took a lot of positives, as the road to the Los Angeles Games in 2028 officially began.
Team SA took with them a squad with a fair mix of experienced and young athletes. Some gained invaluable experience, while others exceeded expectations and will now bask in deserved praise, as they get set for a hero’s welcome.
Team SA ended their campaign with a decent haul of six medals – two golds and four bronze – and as a result they ended in 46th position. From the extravagant opening ceremony to the bright new stars born in the past two weeks, we look at the top five standout moments at the Games for Team South Africa.
Kruger’s dominance of the oblate spheroid
Simone Kruger’s gold-medal win was the cherry on top for Team SA. Her charge towards glory began with gold at the 2023 Para World Championships in Paris.
Her exploits at the Paralympics, however, solidified her status as the best in the women’s T38 class and she now holds both the Paralympic (38.70m) and world records (38.82) in the discus throw. The Pretoria-born athlete will be 23 when the Games make a return in LA and she will be up there with the athletes to look out for.
World record holder with a medal to show for it
Mpumelelo Mhlongo returns home with two medals after missing out in his first two Paralympic Games. Similar to Akani Simbine, Mhlongo had shown so much promise but couldn’t deliver telling blows just when it was needed.
Going into the Games, the 30-year-old would have known that something had to give after falling short in previous finals although he left with a world record behind his name in the 100m and 200m T44 class.
His win in the 100m final that secured gold was clear-cut but after having fallen short on so many occasions, he was fortunate to win a 200m bronze medal as a result of a disqualification.
Hendricks and Ferreira show off their potential
Nathan Hendricks qualified for his fourth final in a row and managed to break the 60- second barrier twice in the men’s 100m butterfly, while 26-year-old Alani Ferreira broke the African records for the women’s S12 400m freestyle and 100m breaststroke.
Coetzee and Du Preez’s experience came out tops
A lot can change in a period of three years, but for Louzanne Coetzee and Pieter du Preez it was business as usual as they found themselves on the podium once again following their hard-fought bronze-medal wins in their respective women’s T11 1500m and men’s H1 final road race.
Ramphadi and Sithole set the benchmark
A Herculean task of winning the continent’s first Paralympic medal in wheelchair tennis faced Lucas Sithole and Donald Ramphadi. Their bronze-medal win has not only created history, but it gives wheelchair tennis in South Africa a huge lift heading to LA.