Image by Getty Images via Daylife Natalie Du Toit, 24 years old from South Africa, is a female Olympian swimmer who has conquered my heart and has filled my spirit with hope in humanity. She is an amazingly strong willed woman who doesn't allow any kind of adversity to stop her from getting as far as she wants to go, as far as she wants to swim, as fas as she wants to fly.
On a Monday morning in 2001, right after she had finished with her morning workout, Natalie Du Toit mounted her motor scooter to go to school. A feckless, reckless and irresponsible car driver (like so many we, road cyclists, encounter every morning in our early workouts) ran over her destroying her left leg. The doctors tried to save the leg but it was impossible so they decided to amputate it.
Before this terrible accident, at the age of 16, Natalie Du Toit was already a very successful athlete who almost qualified for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. She was born with that special spirit that makes a human being noteworthy, distinctive, extraordinary and privileged. It is an honor for me to be able to blog about her, and I wanted to do it so badly to have a record in my blog about this prodigious athlete.
She already participated in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the 10k Swimming Marathon and finished in 16th place out of 24 swimmers, in 2 hours and 33.6, just a little bit over a minute behind the gold medal winner Larisa Iichenko.
Now that she's done with the Beijing Olympics she is ready to focus on the upcoming Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games
To you, Natalie Du Toit, I dedicate these words and this post with humility, respect and with my most sincere and great admiration for you.
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6 COMMENTS:
A great example for all.
WOW! She rocks, man, she rocks!!!!
I wanted to get up real late tomorrow, have a late brunch and then go out to the movies and eat popcorn. After reading this wonderful article my plans have changed.
Tomorrow, I'm getting up at 6 am and am going to run my usual 5 miles Saturday work out. I've been really lazy these past 4 weeks and noticed that I have gained about 2 pounds. Well, thanks to this inspirational story I'm going back to my 5 miles run 4 times a week starting tomorrow morning.
Good for you, healthy bob. I'm going out for my bike ride myself.
Natalie is made of pure gold, isn't she?
What a woman!
What a story! She is truly an amazing person with a spirit that inspired me. She embodies the true spirit of the Olympic games!
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