It was a marathon of passion for disabled swimmer Natalie Du Toit who competed in the inaugural women’s 10km swim in Shunyi yesterday.
The South-African did not swim as well as she wanted and finished 16th in a race won by Russian Larisa Ilchenko in a time of 1 hour 49 minutes and 27 seconds.
In the last 500 metres Ilchenko swept past Britain’s Keri-Anne Payne and Cassandra Patten who had led for most of the race.
After losing her leg in a horror bike crash, Du Toit continued swimming and is an inspiration to athletes everywhere.
Golden double
The world’s fastest man sprinted his way further into history yesterday.
Jamaican Usain Bolt became the first man to set the world records in both the 100 and 200 metre sprints at the Bird’s Nest.
Bolt clocked in at an astounding 19.30 seconds in the 200 and 9.69 seconds in the 100 metre race.
He is the first athlete to win both races since Carl Lewis completed the Golden Double at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.
Russian wrestles for third gold
The old man of Russian wrestling has won his third Olympic gold.
Buvaysa Saytiev won a hard-fought victory in the men’s freestyle 74kg wrestling after defeating Soslan Tigiev of Uzbekistan, while Murad Gaidarov of Belarus and Kiril Terziev of Bulgaria tied for bronze
Six time world champion, Saytiev also won gold in the 2000 Sydney and Athens 2004 Olympics.