Du Toit, Gomez win Whang Youn Dai Achievement Awards
16/9/2008 18:22
South African amputee swimmer Natalie du Toit and Panaman
visually-impaired runner Said Gomez will be presented the Whang Youn Dai
Achievement Awards at tomorrow's closing ceremony of the Beijing Paralympics,
the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said today.
Du Toit and Gomez
won the awards because they "have exemplified the spirit of the Paralympians",
the IPC said in a statement. They will be each given a medal made out of 75
grams pure gold.
The first female amputee to compete in an able-bodied
Olympics, du Toit finished 16th among 25 competitors in the 10-kilometer
open-water swim last month at the Beijing Games. The 24-year-old South African,
who lost her lower left leg in a motorcycle accident in 2001, won five gold
medals at the Beijing Paralympics to equal her haul from Athens four years
ago.
Du Toit often holds charitable events raising funds for a South African
school for children with cerebral palsy and learning disabilities called Vista
Nova school.
Gomez, 42, is a five-time Paralympian. He lost his sight at a
young age and went through his father's discouragement and punishment to take
part in his first Paralympics in 1992 where he won a gold and silver medals. The
Panaman NPC was established in 2006 and prior to that, Gomez attended the
Paralympics at his own expense.
Since 1982, Gomez, who makes his living by
farming, has been coaching children able bodied and with disabilities just for
love of sports.
For the first time in his six Paralympics, Gomeze returned
home without a medal from Beijing as he failed to progress through the first
round in both his events - the 1,500m and 5,000m.
Athletes from 24 countries
and regions had been nominated by the IPC executive committee, Chefs de Mission
and the press, and six athletes made the shortlist, three each in the male and
female categories, said the IPC.
Joining Gomez in the men's pool were
Supachai Koysub of Thailand and Ron Williams of the United States. Along with du
Toit, Natalia Partyka of Poland and Cheri Blauwet of the United States rounded
the women's field.
The Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award is named after South
Korean Whang Youn Dai, who was stricken with polio at the age of three. She
contributed her life for the development of Paralympic sport around the
world.
At the 1988 Paralympic Summer Games in Seoul, the IPC recognized her
life-long contribution to the Paralympic Movement and thus established the
award. Since then, this award was presented at every Paralympic Games to one
male and one female athletes.
Xinhua
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