 Water Cube delivers first dream
By Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-08 07:47
It was a dream come true at the Water Cube for South African Natalie Du Toit yesterday. Du Toit, who also competed at the Beijing Olympics, won the women's Paralympic 100m butterfly S9 class. "I just went there to show people that I have a dream and I have a goal ... That I can achieve those no matter what happens," said the 24-year-old, also the first amputee to qualify for the Olympics. She finished 16th at the Beijing Games marathon swimming event last month. The first day of the Paralympic swimming events saw 13 countries dividing the 16 gold medals up for grabs, with an impressive 13 world records out of a total of 16 events smashed in a single day. United States swimmers struck gold in four events, while China's Du Jianping won the men's 100m freestyle S3 class to clinch the first gold for the host country. "I really didn't expect to start with a world record. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a good race as well," Du Toit said. Du, who set a new Paralympic record in the morning's heat at 1 min 42.95 sec, whittled the winning time down to 1:35.21 in the finals and shaving 5.87 seconds off the former world mark. "I won only a silver last time at the 2004 Games, missing the gold, which I had wanted badly for three years," Du said.
"This time, I competed on home ground and it made me feel more excited and special," he said. "I was in my best form today. I held my breath all the time and I thought it worthwhile even if I choked." In the women's 200m individual medley races, Miranda Uhl of the US and compatriot Erin Popovich claimed the gold medals in the SM6 and SM7 classes, respectively, while Rudy Garcia Tolson, also from the US, won the men's SM7 class of the event. Another American, Jessica Long, won the women's 100m butterfly S8 class. China's Wang Xiaofu, who won three gold medals in Athens and is scheduled to compete in seven individual events in the S8 class and two relay races, failed to get a shot at reaching US swimmer Michael Phelps' record of claiming all gold medals in events he participated in at the Beijing Olympics. Wang settled for a bronze in his opening race of the men's 100m butterfly. Peter Leek from Australia took the gold, followed by Chinese swimmer Wei Yanpeng. "I didn't perform at my best and the result is worse than what I expected," Wang said. "I hope to do well in the later races and grab all the chances of winning." The nine-day Beijing Paralympic swimming meet has attracted 560 athletes in 81 men's and 59 women's events.  (China Daily 09/08/2008 page4) |
