Congratulations Natalie!

March 10, 2010 by The SportLite

The SportLite and JustCurious would like to congratulate sensational South African swimmer, Natalie Du Toit, for receiving the Laureus Disability Award for 2010. This is just another accolade to add to a number of medals that she has won during her illustrious career. The Laureus Awards are dubbed the “Oscars” of sports – so in other words Natalie has pulled a “Charlize Theron”.

The Cape Town-born swimmer first represented South Africa in the 1998 Commonwealth Games at a tender age of 14 – and looked to have a promising career ahead of her until an accident led to her left leg being amputated in 2001. That didn’t deter her at all as she was back in the pool a few months later – determined to follow her destiny.

Since then, Natalie has won a number of medals at the Commonwealth and Paralympic Games and continues to stretch her limits. One of the major highlights was when she qualified to compete with able bodied athletes in the women’s 10km race at 2008 Beijing Olympics. The South African Olympic Committee rewarded her efforts by making her the flag-bearer for both the Olympics and Paralympics team – another first.

Apart from being a multi-skilled swimmer – Natalie does a lot of charity work and motivational speaking – she is indeed a true inspiration for athletes all over the world. Thanks Natalie for making us PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN yet again.

The other big winners at the glamorous ceremony held in Abu Dhabi were:

Usain Bolt – Sportsman of the Year

Serena Williams – Sportswoman of the Year

Jenson Button – Breakthrough of the Year

Brawn GP F1 Team – Team of the Year [ beating The Springboks ]

Kim Clijsters – Comeback of the Year

Nawal El Moutawakel – Lifetime Achievement Award

Dikembe Mutombo – Sport for Good Award

Congratulations to all the winners – and sorry to The Springboks – you guys won the Tri-Nations and the British & Irish Lions Tour – and for that you are MY Team of the year!

By The SportLite ©

“It is a great honour to be receiving this prestigious award. It is the third time that I’ve been to the Laureus Awards and the second time that I’ve been nominated. In 2010 it is our soccer World Cup, and to hold South Africa’s name high is very special for me. I know Laureus was started and founded by South Africans.

“Being a Friend & Ambassador for Laureus makes it very special for me to see what sport can do, how sports people can go into communities and really uplift them. I’ve seen those community projects, so to Laureus ‘well done’.”

Makgotso on Thu, 11th Mar 2010 8:14 am