'I'm not scared anymore' - Miranda Coetzee looks for top performance as SA World Champs team is named

After reaching the Olympic semi-final in Paris last year, Miranda Coetzee is looking to go one better at the World Championships which get underway in the Japanese capital of Tokyo on 13 September. The reigning SA 400m champion and two-time African 400m champion has been included in South Africa’s 49-member team to represent the nation in The Land of The Rising Sun. Coetzee says after watching 31-year-old Akani Simbine win a first individual global medal at the World Indoor Championships in March after a decade of trying, she has been inspired to take it up a notch this season.

Coetzee poses with the bronze medal she won at the World Relays in China. Photo Credit: Supplied.

"Now I'm confident," she told #TheTopRunner when asked about her targets for a 2025 which saw her shine as part of the 4x400m relay team that won SA’s very first women's team medal - a bronze - at the World Relays in May. "Akani boosted my confidence because he's so confident and he's been in the game and now he’s winning and doing all these things. He reminded me that we don't give up here. He's one person I really look up to."

Now training alongside Letsile Tobogo under coach Kebonyemodisa 'Dose' Mosimanyane in Botswana, the 27-year-old from Rustenburg has adjusted well to her new life across the border. The mother of one says her decision to leave coach Eugene Thipe was motivated by a desire to join a strong training group that boasts a number of talented 200m and 400m athletes like herself.

Coetzee in action at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris where she ran a lifetime best 50.66 and reached the semi-final. She says she has learnt from that experience and is more confident this year. Photo Credit: Supplied.

"When I changed coaches people warned me that it would affect my performance. But my body is responding well to the programme that they are doing. In Botswana we normally train at 06H30, that’s when we warm up. We train like soldiers there. They respect their time very much. These people take their training very seriously. I’ve always wanted that competition in training because it's not nice to always train by yourself all the time. Having people to push you also keeps you going. I've always wanted that. So I'm very confident and happy. I'm also happy running for South Africa, I'm not changing."

With the national title secured and training having gone well, Coetzee can reflect on an Olympic debut which saw her produce her 50.66 lifetime best to reach the semi-final. She says she has learnt from that experience and is more confident going into Tokyo. "I feel like confidence is important. I had to build my confidence and maybe believe more in myself. So now I know my mistakes from last year and I know what to do now. I feel like I'm more matured than I was in previous years. I'm not scared anymore."