Natalie du Toit, South Africa’s star performer at the Athens Paralympics, continued her gold-medal onslaught at the Aquatic Centre with a stunning Paralympic record victory in the 100m freestyle on Monday night.
Du Toit powered her way to a Paralympic record of one minute and 2,83 seconds, which adds to the Cape Town swimmer’s 100m breaststroke world-record gold on Sunday night. It also beat the 1:02,92 Paralympic record she set in the morning’s heats and was short of her 1:02,76 world record she set in Barcelona in 2003.
Du Toit, who had her right leg amputated after a scooter accident in 2003, set the pace from the start and Canada’s Stephanie Dixon had no chance as she trailed to silver in 1:05,31, followed by Christiane Reppe of Germany in 1:06,40.
Swimmer Scott Field won his second silver at the Aquatic Centre, but Pretoria schoolboy sprinter Oscar Pistorius was the focus of high drama in the Olympic Stadium.
He fell coming out of the start of his 200m heat for leg amputees, then showed mind-blowing speed and tenacity to surge from stone last to victory in a world-record 23,42 seconds for double-amputees.
The 17-year-old Pretoria High learner cried tears of frustration mingled with relief after his first bittersweet Paralympic experience.
”I’ve never been so scared in all my life out there,” said the likeable youngster who was born with no shin bones. ”Oh man, I fell flat on my knees and hands. It was pure adrenalin that made me chase the field down.”
Pistorius showed astounding quality as he was the only double-amputee in the field and he was primed to go for the world single-amputee record of 22,71 seconds.
”I’m through to the final tomorrow, that’s what counts,” he said. ”I must make sure there are no mistakes then.”
Scott Field, South Africa’s visually impaired swimmer, won his second silver medal of the Paralympics when he finished a strong second in the men’s 400m freestyle.
At the Olympic Stadium, sprinter Nathan Meyer (visually impaired) was charged up for gold in his 200m final, ”but I fell out of rhythm coming round the bend”, he said after his 22,96-second third place.
”A part of me is disappointed, but I’m proud to win bronze for my country.”
Field, who won silver in the 100m butterfly on Sunday night, swam four minutes and 30,19 seconds against the 4:28,84 that earned Walter Wu of Canada the gold medal.
South Africa’s Charl Bouwer finished eighth in 4:49,39.
”I took it pretty easy in the heats this morning and my plan was to go out hard in the final,” said Field afterwards. ”I was watching the other guys, but I didn’t see the guy who beat me because he was too far away. I was in lane five and he was way against the side in lane one. It’s a pity because maybe I could have tried to go for him.”
In wheelchair tennis, Hubbard Adrian and Victor Joppie went down 2-0 to Herbert Baumgartner and Martin Legner of Austria.
Van Dyk cut off from victory
Wheelchair athlete Ernst van Dyk was cut off from a certain gold medal by Mexico’s Saul Mendoza in the Athens Paralympics 1 500m final at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday.
The Paarl athlete controlled the pace from the gun, but with 200m to go the Mexican came through on the outside and cut the South African off, forcing his left wheel off the ground.
Van Dyk had to take evasive action to prevent his lightweight rail from going over, which lost him precious ground. The manner in which he held off the charge and gained ground on Mendoza down the main straight for the silver in 3:05,29 to the Mexican’s 3:04,88 spoke volumes for Van Dyk’s form at these Paralympics.
”I’ve no option, but to protest,” said Van Dyk. ”What he did was illegal. The rules are clear that you can only cut inside when you have clear ground against the athlete you’re overtaking. The only thing that was clear between him and me was that he touched my front wheel.
”I lost traction when my left wheel lifted, and I felt I was catching him up down the main straight. I wanted him to go ahead at that point so that I could come off his wheel for the line. I know if it was just him and me, I would have got gold.”
Athletics team manager Ampie Louw lodged an appeal and Van Dyk waited on Tuesday morning to hear whether the Mexican would be disqualified, which would have moved him up to gold, followed by Marcel Hug (Switzerland) and Kurt Fearnley (Australia).
In the end, though, van Dyk and the team management decided to withdraw the protest.
”But hey, silver is good. I’m happy with that,” said Van Dyk. ”My main race is the 400m and I’m going for the marathon. Whatever happens in between is a bonus.”
Van Dyk has by far the busiest racing programme of the South African team. On Wednesday he races a 5 000m qualifier at 9.35am (Athens time), then a 400m qualifier at 11am followed by a 400m semifinal at 9.05pm.
Then he gets a day’s rest for the 400m final at 9.25pm on Thursday, but has to be up at dawn on Friday for his 800m first round at 9.50am. Later that evening, he is earmarked for the 5 000m final at 7.55pm. Saturday is another early start with an 800m semifinal at 9am, with the final scheduled for 7pm.
Then, on Sunday he and Krige Schabort, who won the marathon silver at Sydney 2000, take on the 42,2km marathon.
Table-tennis player breaks a leg
Paralympic table-tennis player Rosabelle Riese (49) broke her left leg in a fall while getting on to the athlete’s bus outside the Olympic Stadium on Monday night.
The Cape Town wheelchair player, who has partnered Alet Moll in doubles play since the start of the Athens Paralympics on Saturday, was returning to the Athletes’ Village with teammates who had been watching athletics, when the accident occurred.
”She was taken to hospital, her whole leg is in plaster and she is obviously out for the rest of the competition,” said team media manager Bronwyn Badenhorst.
”Chances are that she’ll be spending a couple of days in hospital and will be sent home when she feels comfortable enough.”
Riese, whose disability is polio in her lower limbs and who is a data auditor in Cape Town, competed in air-pistol shooting in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics where she won the bronze medal. Then she took to table tennis ”because I love it” and made the singles quarterfinals at Sydney 2000. — Sapa