Natalie du Toit
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Natalie du Toit OIS (born 29 January 1984) is a South African swimmer. She is best known for the gold medals she won at the 2004 Paralympic Games as well as the Commonwealth Games. She qualified to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, becoming the first amputee ever to qualify for the Olympics.[1]
| Commonwealth Games Medal Record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Swimming | ||
| Gold | 2002 Manchester | 100 m freestyle swimming EAD (multi-disability) |
| Gold | 2002 Manchester | 50 m freestyle swimming EAD (multi-disability) |
| Special Award | 2002 Manchester | David Dixon Award |
| Gold | 2006 Melbourne | 100 m freestyle swimming EAD (multi-disability) |
| Gold | 2006 Melbourne | 50 m freestyle swimming EAD (multi-disability) |
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[edit] Life
Natalie Du Toit was born in Cape Town on January 29, 1984. She was swimming internationally by the age of 14, until in February 2001, her left leg had to be amputated at the knee after a car had driven into her while she was riding her scooter to school just after she had finished swimming practice[2]. However, she started swimming again in May of the same year, even before she had started to walk again, with the intention of competing in the 2002 Commonwealth Games. She swims without the aid of a prosthetic limb.
She completed her scholastic education at the Reddam House in Cape Town. She is also currently (2004) studying for a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Cape Town, specializing in genetics and physiology. In her free time, she also does motivational speaking. Du Toit was voted 48th in the Top 100 Great South Africans in 2004 by the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
[edit] Swimming Career
Du Toit first competed internationally at the age of 14, when she took part in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. During the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Du Toit, who was then 18 years old, won both the multi-disability 50 m freestyle and the multi-disability 100 m freestyle in world record time. She also made sporting history by qualifying for the 800 m able-bodied freestyle final - the first time that an athlete with a disability had qualified for the final of an able-bodied event. At the closing of the Manchester Commonwealth Games, she was presented with the first David Dixon Award for Outstanding Athlete of the Games.
In 2003, competing against able-bodied swimmers, Du Toit won gold in the 800 metres freestyle at the All-Africa Games as well as silver in the 800 metres freestyle and bronze in the 400 metres freestyle at the Afro-Asian Games.
She narrowly missed qualifying for the Olympics in Athens in 2004, but during the Paralympics that were held in the same city, she won one silver and five gold medals. In the same year, her courage and achievements were acknowledged with a nomination for the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year 2004 with Disability Award. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games she repeated her previous performance by winning the same two golds as she had in Manchester. In 2006 Du Toit also won six gold medals at the fourth IPC World Swimming Championships, finishing third overall in a race which included 36 males and 20 females.
On May 3, 2008, Du Toit qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics after finishing fourth in the 10km open water race at the Open Water World Championships in Seville, Spain. Her time was only 5.1 seconds off the winner in a race that will make its first Olympic appearance in Beijing.[3]
[edit] Major sporting achievements
- 100 m freestyle swimming EAD (multi-disability) gold – Commonwealth Games (2006)
- 50 m freestyle swimming EAD (multi-disability) gold - Commonwealth Games (2006)
- 100 m S9 backstroke swimming silver medal – Paralympics (2004)
- 100 m S9 butterfly swimming gold medal - Paralympics (2004)
- 100 m S9 freestyle swimming gold medal - Paralympics (2004)
- 200m SM9 individual medley swimming gold medal - Paralympics (2004)
- 400 m S9 freestyle swimming gold medal - Paralympics (2004)
- 50 m S9 freestyle swimming gold medal - Paralympics (2004)
- 800 m freestyle swimming gold medal - All-Africa Games (2003)
- 800 m freestyle swimming silver medal - Afro-Asian Games (2003)
- 400 m freestyle swimming bronze medal - Afro-Asian Games (2003)
- David Dixon Award for outstanding athlete – Commonwealth Games (2002)
- 100 m freestyle swimming EAD (multi-disability) gold – Commonwealth Games (2002)
- 50 m freestyle swimming EAD (multi-disability) gold - Commonwealth Games (2002)
