# 2 – Natalie du Toit
Sport – Swimming
Natalie du Toit – Setting standards
Natalie du Toit remains one of the greatest swimmers to have ever come from Africa despite losing a left leg at the age of 17.
After her left leg was removed in 2001, Natalie didn’t give up her hopes. Only a year later, she participated in the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games and won two gold medals. In 2004, despite missing the cut for the able bodied events, she qualified for the Paralympics, winning 5 gold medals and a silver.
In 2008, she qualified for the Beijing Olympics by finishing 4th in the 10km Open Water Championships in Spain. In the Olympics, she managed a respectable 16th place. In the same Beijing Paralympics, Natalie repeated her 2004 feat by winning five gold medals.
In 2008, the South African Olympic Committee chose du Toit to carry the country’s flag in both the Summer Games as well as the Paralympic games making her the first athlete to do so.
She has been lauded by various organizations for “breaking down the barriers between disabled and able-bodied sport”.
