South African Paralympic duo Anrune Weyers and Ntando Mahlangu have not only been awarded with a shiny gold medals following their performance on Saturday, but will receive a monetary incentive as well.
The 28-year-old Weyers became the first South African to bag a medal after winning her first Paralympic gold in the women’s 400m T45 final in 56.05.
The Capetonian will receive R450 000 while her coach, Suzanne Ferreira, will pocket R120 000. Weyers still has the opportunity to extend her winning streak, and is set to compete in the women’s 100m and 200m T47.
On the other hand, this is second time Mahlangu is competing in the Paralympics. He set a new world record with a leap of 7.17m, and his gold medal will bring in R450 000, while the world record will bag R180 000.
This means the 19-year-old star will take home R630 000 for his first Tokyo Paralympic event while his coach, Neil Cornelius, is expected to receive R120 000. Mahlangu will compete in the 200m T63 with the heats scheduled on Friday.
This comes after the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture announced the incentives for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic medallists, jointly with their stakeholders, National Lottery Commission (NLC) and South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc).
It was said that all gold medallists at both the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be awarded with R450 000 while R120 000 is set aside for the coach.
Silver medal winners will earn R220 000 (R70 000 for the coach), while those taking home bronze will pocket R100 000 (R30 000 for the coach).
An added R180 000 is rewarded for athletes who break the world record in Tokyo, and this incentive is solely for athletes and not coaches.
News: The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture in partnership with the National Lotteries Commission & the South African Sports Confederation & Olympic Committee (SASCOC) is pleased to announce the incentives for outstanding performances of South African Olympians & Paralympians pic.twitter.com/phwOrShFXb
— Min. Nathi Mthethwa (@NathiMthethwaSA) August 29, 2021
Meanwhile, Team SA’s Louzanne Coetzee has won silver in the women’s T11 1500m final in an African record 4:40.96. This is South Africa’s third medal at the Paralympic Games.
She and her guide, Estean Badenhorst, carved nearly nine seconds off their qualifying time to finish second behind Mexico’s Monica Rodriguez Saavedra, who broke the world record in taking gold in 4:37.40.
According to TeamSA, Coetzee said: “I have been competing for eight years and this is my first medal. I’m just overwhelmed. I couldn’t have asked for a better race, a better guide, better preparation, I’m just very thankful for how everything went down.”
What a stunning victory!
What a way to start the day ????#TeamSA #Tokyo2020#Paralympics pic.twitter.com/aE3ygLhRBY
— Team South Africa (@TeamSA2020) August 30, 2021
SILVER ? Team SA’s Louzanne Coetzee has won SILVER in the women’s T11 1500m final in an African record 4:40.96. It is #TeamSA ‘s 3rd medal of the #TokyoParalympics pic.twitter.com/zMCVgDscfx
— Team South Africa (@TeamSA2020) August 30, 2021
Also read:
Ramaphosa congratulates SA duo after stellar performance at Tokyo Paralympics
Picture: Twitter/ TeamSA