Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 124, November 2019 | Page 52

TRACK & FIELD
Decisions,
Decisions…
T
wo years ago, in 2017, Louzanne decided she
would focus on the marathon for the 2020
Games instead of trying to qualify on the track
in the 5000m, as the classic 42.2km is her favourite
event, whereas the 5000m was no longer on the
cards due to too few athletes competing in her T11
para-athletics class in that event. That saw her target
the Soweto Marathon as her debut marathon, and
she was ambitious enough to even chase the World
Record in her class, the 3:13:15 run by China’s Zheng
Chi in 2016.
– BY MANFRED SEIDLER
52
ISSUE 124 NOVEMBER 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
Knocked Back
However, then came the Paralympic qualifier in
London this year. “That was hard, and my ambitions
to do the marathon in Tokyo took a bit of a knock,”
says Louzanne. She finished in 3:33:22 and though
she qualified, it was one of the toughest and most
excruciating races she had run, despite the better
conditions and easier course than Soweto. “I had
ITB, so I ran with pain from around 18km or so,” she
explains.
With some doubts about the Paralympic marathon
already in her mind, Louzanne’s thoughts were really
thrown into disarray in late August when she clocked
a personal best 4:51.65 for the 1500m on the track,
at the Paris Para Athletics Grand Prix (the IPC version
of the Diamond League). This took a massive 13
seconds off her previous best, and all of a sudden she
was sitting with a tough decision to make.
You see, this performance shot Louzanne to the top
of the world rankings in her class in the event for
2019, and raised the obvious question whether she
should continue to focus on the marathon as her 2020
The week of 7-15 November
will see Dubai hosting the
2019 IPC World Athletics
Championships. That
week will also resolve a
dilemma that South Africa’s
Louzanne Coetzee has
been battling with for
almost two years. The
visually impaired athlete
had set her sights on
running the marathon
at the 2020 Paralympic
Games in Tokyo, and had
qualified at the London
Marathon in April this
year, but a hard run, a
change of coach and
developments on the track
have made her question
that decision.
She finished Soweto in 3:31, with the tough route and
hot conditions being a far cry from the conditions Chi
had faced when she set the World Record in London.
While slightly disappointed with her time, Louzanne’s
desire to run the marathon in Tokyo was well and
truly alive. Then in 2018, at the Berlin Marathon, she
finished just 26 seconds outside the World Record
when she crossed the line in 3:13:41. Once again, the
dream was still alive!