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The incredible Natalie du Toit

Herbert

Aug 20, 08 5:50

Post #1 of 10 (1054 views)

The incredible Natalie du Toit	Can't Post

South African Natalie du Toit was involved in a bad scooter accident in 2001 after having narrowly missed making the Olympic Team for Sydney in swimming. The doctors couldn't save the left leg of the teenager and it was amputated above the knee. She still tried to qualify for the regular Olympic team for Sydney, but just could not keep pace. So she decided to go to to paralympics games and she won 5 Gold and 1 Silver medal. When marathon swimming got introduced to the Olympics, Natalie tried again as in open water swimming the start is less important and no turns are involved. The only time you need a kick really is for the finish sprint.

Natalie qualified at the Worlds in Seville with her 4th place finish. In Beijing this morning she finished 16th, 1:22 behind the winner. Natalie was the flag bearer for South Africa.

Natalie du Toit before the start

The game is on!

Via: faz.net

(This post was edited by Herbert on Aug 20, 08 6:16)

mmrocker13

Aug 20, 08 6:12

Post #2 of 10 (1014 views)

Re: The incredible Natalie du Toit [Herbert] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Wow...that's a very cool story. Will she be doing the paraolympics again this year as well?

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Herbert

Aug 20, 08 11:16

Post #3 of 10 (851 views)

Re: The incredible Natalie du Toit [mmrocker13] [In reply to]	Can't Post

She will do the paralympics again too.

H

Speedsnake

Aug 20, 08 14:18

Post #4 of 10 (733 views)

Re: The incredible Natalie du Toit [Herbert] [In reply to]	Can't Post

We are pretty proud of her here!
see link to Robben Island swim article
(where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were jailed)
http://www.southafrican.co.uk/sport.aspx?ID=485
Sorry about the cross posting
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TriathleteEd

Aug 20, 08 18:08

Post #5 of 10 (631 views)

Re: The incredible Natalie du Toit [Herbert] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thanks for posting this. I was wondering how she did. Congrats to her on a job well done!

PirateGirl

Aug 20, 08 18:30

Post #6 of 10 (603 views)

Re: The incredible Natalie du Toit [Herbert] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I nominate her as the greatest olympian. Seriously, her story is hard to beat.

What Am I Up To? Pirate

Devlin

Aug 25, 08 9:47

Post #7 of 10 (447 views)

Re: The incredible Natalie du Toit [GhiaGirl] [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

I nominate her as the greatest olympian. Seriously, her story is hard to beat.

Agreed. I missed all the coverage of the women's 10k as I was driving from Colorado to Az that day, so when I saw a short clip of her at the closing ceremonies last night, I was like "Wait...what?"

Seriously cool.

John
I can't imagine what 40 strokes/25 yds looks like. No one jumped in to save you? [Katy]

Pain is Temporary...Glory is Forever...Chicks Dig Scars

Herbert

Aug 25, 08 10:00

Post #8 of 10 (423 views)

Re: The incredible Natalie du Toit [Devlin] [In reply to]	Can't Post

The story is truly neat indeed. Seems though hat Open Water swimming has another incredible story along those lines.
The Dutch guy who won the men's open water Olympic Gold Maarten van der Weijden had Leukemia in 2001 and had to have a stem cell transplant. (maybe from Michael Phelps?)
Now he is an Olympic champion.

Wow

Gandalf

Aug 25, 08 10:45

Post #9 of 10 (342 views)

Re: The incredible Natalie du Toit [Herbert] [In reply to]	Can't Post

A great story. Unfortunately whilst she keep pace with the girls during 9.5Km of the race, she is at a distinct disadvantage over the last 500m when they kick for the finish. This girl only has one way to success and that is to break away early and make it a test of endurance rather than tactics.. a la Di Davies. However I since she has come this far, I doubt that this will prevent her from going further and better. Great job Nathalie.
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ggeiger

Aug 25, 08 11:01

Post #10 of 10 (287 views)

Re: The incredible Natalie du Toit [Herbert] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thanks for sharing, Herbert. I applaud your efforts to keep ST a positive place, and this article should be a motivator for us all. Thank yo.

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