Natalie du Toit

Natalie du Toit ( born January 29, 1984 in Cape Town ) is a South African swimmer. At the age of 14, she took as part of the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in part in international competitions. In February 2001 she partially lost her left leg had to be amputated after a traffic accident from the knee down. In May of the same year she began again with the swimming, she completed despite the amputation without a prosthesis.

As part of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester she won in two competitions for disabled athletes. In addition, she qualified for the finals in the 800 meters freestyle of non-disabled athletes, a one-time performance at this time. During the Abschlusszeromonie she was honored as an outstanding athlete of the Games. In the summer 2004 Paralympics in Athens, she won five gold medals and one silver medal. Two years later she repeated with two wins at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne success of Manchester.

On 3 May 2008, she qualified with a fourth place at the World Championships in long distance swimming more than ten kilometer for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, where this discipline for the first time part of the Olympic program. Natalie du Toit, making it one of the most successful disabled athletes of all time and the first athlete with an amputation, which has qualified for participation in the Olympic Games. She was there flag bearer of the South African team at the opening ceremony, finishing in 16th place in their discipline.

Natalie du Toit also participated in the Summer Paralympics in 2008 and won over 50 meters, 100 meters and 400 meters freestyle and the 100m Butterfly and 200m individual medley total of five gold medals there. They scored three world and two Paralympic records.

The Pan-African Games in 2011, she won the 100 meters freestyle.