South African Olympian Natalie du Toit smashed her own world record on Thursday to grab her third gold of the Paralympics as she continued her bid for a clean sweep of five titles.
Du Toit knocked more than two seconds off her own record in her class in the women’s 200m individual medley, finishing the swim in two minutes and 27,83 seconds, and finishing almost 10 seconds clear of Canada’s Stephanie Dixon.
”I just went out there and had a good race. I just enjoyed it. I felt good in the warm-up, so to get out there and have a good race was a bonus,” she said.
When asked if she was confident of matching her five golds at the 2004 Athens Paralympics, Du Toit said the 50m freestyle would be tricky.
”There’s just one race that’s a bit bothering and that’s the 50m freestyle. I have a very slow reaction at the start,” she said.
”It is going to be tough out there. The 400m — hopefully that will go well in the heats tomorrow morning [Friday].”
Earlier this week, Du Toit won the 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly.
The 24-year-old, who finished 16th in the 10km marathon swim in the Olympics last month, is one of only two Paralympians who also competed at the Beijing Olympics, along with Polish teenager Natalia Partyka, who won table tennis gold in her class on Wednesday.
Du Toit won five golds and a silver in Athens. She lost her left leg in a road accident in 2001, after narrowly missing qualification for the Sydney Olympics a year earlier. — AFP
