Natalie du Toit of South Africa trained all her life for the Olympics--until she was derailed by a motorbike accident seven years ago.

The accident left du Toit without the lower half of her left leg and with no muscle remaining in the top half.

At first it seemed as if du Toit's Olympic dreams had ended.  She continued training, but failed to make the South African Olympic team in Athens in 2004.

When the IOC announced that an open water 10K swim would be added to the Olympics, du Toit's Olympic dreams were revived.  Open water distance swimming relies much more heavily on arm strength, rather that leg strength.  In May of 2008, du Toit finished fourth out of fifty swimmers at the Open Water World Championship off the coast of Spain, thus qualifying for the Beijing Olympics.

This Wednesday in Beijing, du Toit finally competed in the 10K at the Olympics.  She finished 16th, a position she was very disappointed with--she had hoped to finish in the top five.  In the process of her race however, du Toit managed to inspire many of her competitors.  Larisa Ilchenko, the 10K gold medalist from Russia, went as far as to say that du Toit deserved her own gold medal, stating "I have enormous respect for her. It is an exceedingly hard event. Just looking at these people inspires you."