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A truly inspiring athlete
Natalie Du Toit's story is truly inspiring. She first represented South Africa
internationally at the age of 14. In 2001 she had to have her left leg amputated at theknee after a traffic accident, but far from letting this stop her, at the age of 24 she has
gone on to be the first amputee to qualify for the able bodied Olympics since 1928!
Natalie competed in the 10km women's swimming marathon at the Beijing OlympicGames. Did you see her carrying the flag for South Africa at the OpeningCeremony?
Natalie also competed in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, where she defended the
five gold and one silver she won at the 2004 Athens Paralympics.
What does Natalie du Toit do when she's not
swimming?
Natalie has been studying sports management, and is keen about community service.
She participates in a long distance charity swim each year that raises money to helpout schoolchildren who need important equipment. She is also involved in helping the
Cancer Association in Cape Town. For more details, check out herOfficial Website.
http://www.nataliedutoit.com/http://www.nataliedutoit.com/8/8/2019 A Truly Inspiring Athlete( Ashy Docs 17 October 2010)
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Tumble Turn - Natalie Du Toit's story by Tracey Hawthorne
Natalie du Toit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Natalie du Toit
Nationality South Africa
Stroke(s) Butterfly, backstroke, freestyle, breaststroke
Date of birth January 29, 1984
Place of birth Cape Town, South Africa
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Medal record[show]
Competitor for South Africa
Women's Swimming
Commonwealth Games
Gold 2002Manchester 50 m freestyle EAD
Gold2002
Manchester100 m freestyle EAD
Gold 2006 Melbourne 50 m freestyle EAD
Gold 2006 Melbourne 100 m freestyle EAD
Gold 2010 Delhi 50 m freestyle EAD
Paralympic Games
Gold 2008 Beijing 50 m freestyle S9
Gold 2008 Beijing 100 m freestyle S9
Gold 2008 Beijing 400 m freestyle S9Gold 2008 Beijing 100 m butterfly S9
Gold 2008 Beijing200 m individual medley
SM9
Gold 2004 Athens 50 m freestyle S9
Gold 2004 Athens 100 m freestyle S9
Gold 2004 Athens 400 m freestyle S9
Gold 2004 Athens 100 m butterfly S9
Gold 2004 Athens200 m individual medley
SM9
Silver 2004 Athens 100 m backstroke S9
Natalie du Toit (born January 29, 1984) is a South Africanswimmer. She is best
known for the gold medals she won at the2004 Paralympic Games as well as the
Commonwealth Games. She was one of two Paralympians to compete at the2008
Summer Olympicsin Beijing; the other being table tennis playerNatalia Partyka.[1]
Du Toit became the first amputee ever to qualify for theOlympics, where she placed
16th in the 10K, "Marathon", swim.[2][3]
Early life
Natalie was born inCape Town, South Africa and attended Wynberg Girls' High
School. She began competing internationally in swimming at the age of 14. In
February 2001 her left leg was amputated at the knee after she was hit by a car while
riding herscooterback to school after swimming practice.[4] Three months later,
before she had started walking again, she was back in the pool with the intention ofcompeting in the2002 Commonwealth Games. Du Toit swims without the aid of a
prosthetic limb.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_(sport)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralympic_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimmerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimmerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Paralympic_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Paralympic_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalia_Partykahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Townhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Townhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynberg_Girls'_High_Schoolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynberg_Girls'_High_Schoolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynberg_Girls'_High_Schoolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amputationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooter_(motorcycle)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_(sport)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralympic_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimmerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Paralympic_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalia_Partykahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Townhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynberg_Girls'_High_Schoolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynberg_Girls'_High_Schoolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amputationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooter_(motorcycle)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Commonwealth_Games8/8/2019 A Truly Inspiring Athlete( Ashy Docs 17 October 2010)
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She completed her scholastic education at theReddam House in Cape Town after
which she studied for a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Cape Town,
specializing ingenetics andphysiology. In her free time she does motivational
speaking.
Swimming career
Du Toit first competed internationally at the age of 14, when she took part in the1998
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 theAll-Africa Games as well as silver in the 800 metres freestyle
and bronze in the 400 metres freestyle at theAfro-Asian Games.
She narrowly missed qualifying for theOlympics inAthens 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 Sportspersonof 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 thirdoverall in a race which included 36 males and 20 females.
On 3 May 2008, Du Toit qualified for the 2008Beijing Olympics after finishing
fourth in the 10 km 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 made its
first Olympic appearance in Beijing.[5] At the Beijing Olympicswomen's 10 km race,
she finished in 16th place, 1:22.2 minutes behind the winner. She also took part in the
2008 Summer Paralympics, winning 5 Gold Medals.[6]
[edit] 2008 Olympic and Paralympic openingceremonies
South Africa's Olympic Committee chose Du Toit to carry their flag at the2008
Summer Olympics opening ceremony, making her the first athlete to carry a flag in
both Olympics and Paralympics in a single year.[7]
[edit] Major sporting achievements
100 m S9 butterfly swimming gold medal - Commonwealth Games (2010)
50 m S9 freestyle swimming gold medal - Commonwealth Games (2010) 50 m S9 freestyle swimming gold medal - Paralympics (2008)
400 m S9 freestyle swimming gold medal - Paralympics (2008)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddam_Househttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddam_Househttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_degreehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Cape_Townhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuala_Lumpurhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchesterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dixon_Awardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-Africa_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-Africa_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Asian_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Asian_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laureus_World_Sports_Awardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laureus_World_Sports_Awardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Olympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Olympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seville,_Spainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Women's_marathon_10_kilometrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Women's_marathon_10_kilometrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Natalie_du_Toit&action=edit§ion=3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Committeehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics_opening_ceremonyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics_opening_ceremonyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics_opening_ceremonyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics_opening_ceremonyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Paralympics_opening_ceremonyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Natalie_du_Toit&action=edit§ion=4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddam_Househttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_degreehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Cape_Townhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuala_Lumpurhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchesterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dixon_Awardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-Africa_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Asian_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laureus_World_Sports_Awardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Commonwealth_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Olympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seville,_Spainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Women's_marathon_10_kilometrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Paralympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Natalie_du_Toit&action=edit§ion=3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Committeehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics_opening_ceremonyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics_opening_ceremonyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Paralympics_opening_ceremonyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Natalie_du_Toit&action=edit§ion=48/8/2019 A Truly Inspiring Athlete( Ashy Docs 17 October 2010)
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200 m SM9 individual medley swimming gold medal - Paralympics (2008)
100 m S9 freestyle swimming gold medal - Paralympics (2008)
100 m S9 butterfly swimming gold medal - Paralympics (2008)
100 m freestyle swimming EAD (multi-disability) gold Commonwealth
Games (2006)
50 m freestyle swimming EAD (multi-disability) gold - CommonwealthGames (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)
200 m 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)
Awards and honours
In August 2002 she was awarded the Western Cape Golden Cross. During the award
ceremony Western Cape PremierMarthinus van Schalkwyksaid she had gone
"beyond gold and swam her way into the hearts of not only South Africans but thewhole world".[8]
Du Toit was voted 48th in the Top 100 Great South Africans in 2004 by theSouth
African Broadcasting Corporation.
In December 2009 she received theOrder of Ikhamanga in Gold "for her exceptional
achievements in swimming."[9]
On 10 March 2010, she was awarded the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year
with a Disability for "breaking down the barriers between disabled and able-bodied
sport".[10]
References
1. ^ Two Paralympians competed in Olympics, oandp.com; retrieved 2009-08-15.
2. ^ Dreams carry Natalie Du Toit to Beijing - Olympics News - Telegraph
3. ^ George Eyser, who had a wooden leg, competed at the1904 Summer Olympics; thecircumstances of Eyser's participation in the Games are unknown. Poland'sNatalia
Partykaalso competed at both the Olympics and the Paralympics in Beijing, in tabletennis.
4. ^ Official site
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dixon_Awardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marthinus_van_Schalkwykhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABC3's_Great_South_Africanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABChttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABChttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABChttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Ikhamangahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Ikhamangahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laureus_World_Sports_Awardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laureus_World_Sports_Awardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_ref-0http://www.oandp.com/articles/2008-10_06.asphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_ref-1http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/05/04/sbswim104.xmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_ref-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eyserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eyserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1904_Summer_Olympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1904_Summer_Olympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalia_Partykahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalia_Partykahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalia_Partykahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_ref-3http://www.nataliedutoit.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dixon_Awardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marthinus_van_Schalkwykhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABC3's_Great_South_Africanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABChttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABChttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Ikhamangahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laureus_World_Sports_Awardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laureus_World_Sports_Awardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_ref-0http://www.oandp.com/articles/2008-10_06.asphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_ref-1http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/05/04/sbswim104.xmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_ref-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eyserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1904_Summer_Olympicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalia_Partykahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalia_Partykahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_ref-3http://www.nataliedutoit.com/8/8/2019 A Truly Inspiring Athlete( Ashy Docs 17 October 2010)
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5. ^ ESPN report
6. ^ "Du Toit to make history at Games", BBC, June 13, 2008
7. www.nataliedutoit.com8.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_ref-4http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/swimming/news/story?id=3379722http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_ref-5http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/swimming/7386893.stmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_ref-4http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/swimming/news/story?id=3379722http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_ref-5http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/swimming/7386893.stm