By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@RogerSedres
Bronze medallist Pieter du Preez will carry the South African flag when the flame 2024 Paralympics come to an official end in Paris on Sunday night.
Du Preez, a gold medallist in the H1 time-trial in Tokyo, finished third to win bronze in Paris 2024.
He is one of the legends of South African sport and has the honour of carrying his country’s flag at the closing ceremony. Team SA finished their programme with six medals – two gold and four bronze medals.
The H1 category in para-cycling is for athletes with highly affected movement in the trunk, legs and hands.
The C6 quadriplegic finished sixth at the 2012 London Games in the 400-meter wheelchair track racing and won a gold medal in the para-cycling at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, which were moved to 2021 due to COVID-19.
Du Preez scooped a gold medal in the time trial at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow and is the current defending champion with his rainbow jersey tally at six in the individual time trial.
The only Team SA competitor in action on the final day was T11 marathoner Louzanne Coetzee. A bronze medallist in the event in Tokyo, she had already won bronze in the 1500m in Paris, but was unable to repeat the feat on Sunday morning, with her guide Claus Kempen, finishing out of the medals in a race won by Moroccan Fatima El Idrissi in a world record 2hr 48min 36sec.