Du Toit, who does not wear a prosthetic leg during competition, finished in 2 hours 2 minutes 7.8 seconds. She was 5.1 seconds behind winner Larisa Ilchenko of Russia.

"I think this is the first time I've ever cried after a swim because it means so much," Du Toit told The Daily Telegraph of London after the race.

There have been other disabled athletes who have competed in the Summer Olympics. Marla Runyan, a legally blind runner, competed for the U.S. team at the 2000 Sydney Games. New Zealand archer Neroli Fairhall was the first paraplegic to compete in the Olympics in 1984.

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In 2002, Du Toit was the first amputee to swim in the finals of a major championship. She just missed qualifying for the 2004 Athens Games and went on to win five golds and a silver in the Paralympics.

Another South African, sprinter Oscar Pistorius, who is a double amputee, is also trying to qualify for the Olympics. He has been banned from competing because his carbon-fiber blades are deemed to give him an advantage. He has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

In the men's race, American Mark Warkentin qualified for the Olympics by finishing seventh. Vladimir Dyatchin of Russia won in 1:53.21.

The U.S. women failed to qualify for an Olympic spot but have another shot in Beijing on May 31.

Briefly:

Americans Kristin Armstrong and Amber Neben finished second and third, respectively, at a UCI elite time trial in Sion, Switzerland, Friday. …Georgia Gould solidified her lead in the competition for one of two women's spots on the U.S. Olympic mountain bike team Saturday with a fifth place in the UCI World Cup cross-country race in Madrid. Mary McConneloug finished 15th and Heather Irmiger made a comeback from last week's illness to finish 26th. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski was the top U.S. male at 15th, while Olympic qualifying leader Todd Wells was 18th.


from www.usatoday.com