She was only five years old when her life changed irrevocably one Saturday in East London – when a champion arose from a tragedy.

“I remember everything so well,” says Liezel Gouws, now 23 years old and a fourth-year Pharmacy student at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Potchefstroom Campus.

“I was one of the flower girls at the wedding of my oldest cousin. That Saturday evening I developed a terrible headache and on my way to my parents I lost consciousness. That is the last I remember.”

What happened was that a stroke deprived Liezel of her ability to talk, walk and so much more. “Fortunately, my mother is a sister and she could immediately see what had happened. She rushed me to hospital, where I had to remain for two weeks.”

Then the hard work started. Everything she had lost, had to be regained. “I am actually grateful that it happened so early on in my life. Everything I had learnt was still fresh in my memory. It would have been much more difficult later on,” she says.

And learn she did. In 2015 she made the 800 m world record in the T37 category her own, and in 2018 she broke her own record. In 2016 she was part of the South African team that took part in the Paralympics in Rio. She made it through to the final round in the 100 m and the 400 m.

“My cousins and two older brothers all participated in sport. I was always a busy child and wanted to play rugby with my brothers. In Grade 6 I told my mother that I wanted to start running, and she encouraged me to train with the schoolchildren. It was only in Grade 7 that I discovered that there were events in which children with disabilities could take part too,” she explains.

From then on it was full steam ahead for this athlete, who matriculated at the Wesvalia High School in Klerksdorp.

Now her sights are once again set on Olympic glory, this time in Tokyo, Japan, later this year. In addition, she has the former hurdles athlete and Africa record holder, Sean Bownes, by her side as her coach. This is a formidable duo if there ever was one. “I started training with Sean only recently, but I am very happy,” she says.

Although Liezel prefers the 800 m, this distance is not offered at the Olympics. That is why the 200 m and 400 m are now her passport to the Far East. She will get her chance to book her ticket to the event at the SA Championships in April, provided she ends in the top three in both items.

A clever man would not bet against her chances of achieving this.

 Liezel Gouws is one in a million.