Natalia Parytka
Natalie du Toit carried the flag for South Africa at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games. She wore a prosthetic leg, but few probably noticed. She has long awaited this moment, when she can stop being a disabled swimmer and start being just a swimmer again.
On Wednesday, du Toit will participate in the Olympic marathon swim with no lower left leg or prosthetic assistance to help her kick through 6.2 miles of open water, competing as the first female amputee in an able-bodied Olympics.
“This is something I’ve dreamed about since I was 12 or 13,” du Toit, 24, said of competing in an Olympics. “I didn’t dream of having a motorbike accident and losing my leg so I could go to the Paralympics.”
She will participate here, then stay for the Paralympics in September. So will Natalia Partyka, a table tennis player from Poland who was born without a right forearm. Pistorius cleared a legal hurdle en route to the Games, but fell a second shy of the eligibility standard to run the 400 meters.
via nytimes.com