Muriel Brand athlete showcases world-class talent at champs
Teagon Coimbra collected four gold medals at the national championships, and threw a world leading discus throw.
Muriel Brand School learner Teagon Coimbra (16) excelled at the South African Sports Association for the Physically Disabled (SASAPD) Toyota National Championships recently held in Bloemfontein.
The Edenvale resident with a prosthetic leg achieved a world-leading distance in the discus event. He followed that by adding gold in the 100m, shot put and javelin throw.
The 2024 edition of the championships is Teagon’s second appearance at national level. While the distance is world-leading, Teagon isn’t internationally registered and the world record, therefore, can’t be attributed to him.
Lauren Fremouw, the athletics coach at Muriel Brand, is very proud of all her athletes. In total, they netted 17 gold, five silver and eight bronze medals. Lauren has kind words about Teagon.
“If you look at where he came from and where he is now, he’s a brilliant kid and a fantastic athlete,” she said.
Another shining athlete is Donique van den Berg, who set a new national record in the girls U17 100m dash and added long jump gold for Gauteng.
In the seated division, Simphiwe Dlamini took care of three gold medals for Gauteng in the boys U17 shot put, javelin and discus throw events.
Fellow learner, Matume Malatsi followed suit by adding silver in both the boys U20 javelin and discus throw finals and bronze in the U20 seated shot put throw.
All four learners are beneficiaries of Jumping Kids, benefitting from sponsored prosthetic and mobility equipment and educational bursaries facilitated by the fund as needed.
“Our commitment to the development of inclusive sports participation opportunities is simple. The kids get to see and do what is possible.
“For a young boy like Teagon, who is a single above-knee prosthetic device user competing in the same division as his Paralympic hero, Tyrone Pillay, being at the same event is priceless,” said
Michael Stevens, director of the Jumping Kids Prosthetic Fund. Teagon told the Brakpan Herald on Tuesday that he was thrilled with his performance at the championships.
“It felt good when I threw the world leading distance, it made me very happy. My goals in life are to become a successful sportsman and businessman,” he said.
Teagon hopes to invest in property and stocks to achieve success. If there were no obstacles in life, Teagon would like to expand his knowledge and support others like himself.
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He encourages everyone to never give up on themselves, especially when things are difficult. “You just have to continue trying,” he said.
Teagon trains by going to the gym every day of the week, except for Tuesdays and Thursdays, when he has athletics training at school.
He expressed his gratitude to Jumping Kids and its director. “At the moment, he (Michael) is my biggest inspiration,” he said.
In addition to the stellar support from Jumping Kids, Lauren also thanked Icexpress Progressive Prosthetics.
“They are changing our children’s lives for the better,” she added.
