South African Olympic swimmer Natalie du Toit bagged her fourth gold of the Paralympics in world-record time on Friday, leaving her just one short in her quest for five titles.
Du Toit destroyed the field in the women’s 400m freestyle, finishing almost 16 seconds ahead of Canada’s Stephanie Dixon in a time of four minutes 23,81 seconds.
The 24-year-old, who knocked 0,15 seconds off her own world record, was disappointed that she had not matched her fastest time for the distance achieved in an able-bodied race.
But she said: ”With everything else going on — Olympics and then a bit of a break and then Paralympics, I can’t be too hard on myself. It was a good race. I gave everything.”
Du Toit said the 50m freestyle on Sunday was likely to be her toughest assignment.
”It’s going to be a head-down-and-go race. Anything can happen, but I’m looking forward to it, it’s a great challenge,” she said.
Du Toit has already won the 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle and 200m individual medley events in her class.
The South African, who finished 16th in the Olympic 10km marathon swim, is one of only two athletes to compete at both Beijing Games along with Polish teenager Natalia Partyka, who won table tennis gold in her class.
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.
Team South Africa entrenched its position at number eight on the medal table as it bolstered its haul of golds to 12 in a total of 17 medals.
This was after athletics supplied three more golds through Hilton Langenhoven in the men’s pentathlon P12, Ilse Hayes in the women’s long jump F13 and Fanie van der Merwe won the men’s 100m T37.
Tadhg Slattery also won bronze in the 100m breaststroke SB5.
Slattery was ecstatic with his performance, joking through an interpreter that he didn’t care if he celebrated too hard tonight, because he wouldn’t be able to hear anyway! He has cerebral palsy and is deaf.
His celebrations may be an appropriate herald of South Africa’s best-ever Paralympic haul: In Athens in 2004, the team won 15 golds, and there are more than three to be had in the remaining five days in Beijing. — AFP, Sapa