INSPIRATIONAL: South African Natalie Du Toit on her way to breaking her
own Paralympics women’s 100 meters butterfly world record.

She carried the flag for her country during the Olympic opening ceremony, testimony to the high esteem in which she is held by her team, her nation and the sporting community. And she came to Beijing determined to live her dream to compete in both the Olympics and Paralympic Games.

In South Africa, swimmer Natalie Du Toit, 24, is a heroine and an example of determination in motion. Losing her left leg in a motor accident seven years ago, the young woman with the swimming world at her feet set her mind on glory in the water despite this devastating setback.

This month that dream came true. At the Beijing Paralympics, Du Toit won gold in the five events she participated in-100 meters butterfly, 100 meters freestyle, 200 meters individual medley, 400 meters freestyle and 50 meters freestyle, making her the most decorated athlete at the Beijing Paralympics.

But a month before Du Toit had been making headlines at the Olympics itself, when she took on the cream of the world's able-bodied long-distance swimmers in the women's 10 kilometers open-water marathon, the first swimming marathon in Olympic history.

It's a tough event, characterized by jostling for position with no quarter asked or given. No special allowance was made for this disabled athlete. Du Toit gritted her way to 16th place, beating nine other swimmers in the field of 25, an amazing feat in itself. She immediately became a media darling.

But the road to Beijing had been one lined with obstacles.

Crushed but not beaten

In her youth Du Toit was one of the most promising swimmers in South Africa who lived for the day she could compete at the Olympics. In the 2000 Sidney Games, Du Toit, then a teenager, entered the finals of three events during the qualifiers narrowly missing the mark. But most people in the swimming business believed that it was just a matter of time before Du Toit took her place on the world's biggest sporting stage. Then in 2001 her world fell apart. One her way from a training session a car reversed into Du Toit's motor cycle, crushing her leg in the process.

Doctors spent a week trying to save her leg, but despite their best efforts the leg was eventually amputated below the knee.

At 17, Du Toit's life changed forever. "That was really a difficult time. I often cried in frustration," Du Toit recalled, expressing frustration when people looked at her stump or her prosthetic leg before they looked at her face.