"Anchor Leg"

  By:  Karen Devereaux

As I finished watching the USA Olympic men's 4 x100 relay team drop the baton on the anchor lap of a preliminary heat, I had already concluded that would never happen to a women's team that tend to be much more fundamentally sound and effort driven. 

Even though the fate of the men immediately preceded the women's quest, they too dropped the baton on the anchor leg.  Neither team could grasp the baton on the anchor lap and after the failure of both, I too, found myself grasping for something more. 

Enter, Natalie du Toit.  I needed someone to hang my hat on and she was just what the doctor ordered.  Although her event preceded the failure of the USA teams, my sports passion forced me to grandfather back an event to accommodate my anxiety. 

Natalie is a South African swimmer who lost most of her leg in a motorcycle accident in 2001 after narrowly missing qualifying for the Sydney Olympics.  Not to be stricken down, she continued to train diligently as if her new physique was nothing more than a minor hindrance.  Because, at the end of the day, effort comes from within and the only thing different about her was on the outside. 

For the challenge of competing, not in a handicapped Olympics, but qualifying and competing in the Beijing Olympic swimming event of 10km, even she must have had to reach inside for more.  But reach, she did.  She competed in her Olympic event and finished 16^th out of 25 athletes, less than a minute and a half behind the gold medal winner.  To beat out 9 other elite athletes within your trained sport, by any standards, is remarkable.  By du Toit's standards, she wished she would have finished in the top 5.  That is just how she thinks. 

After watching the sub par performances of our USA track team and numerous other disappointments, she reinforces our faith in the reward of effort.  Ultimately, the thrill of victory comes from the willingness to compete...to give everything.  The agony of defeat comes from being physically capable and not fulfilling those expectations which has to be traced to something psychological that inhibits a physiological response.  So many times, especially in the Olympics, athletes perform at their highest peak in the biggest venues.  When unexpected failures happen, it is nice to have someone with the courage of Natalie du Toit to rescue us.  Maybe the Americans could not complete the anchor leg of their respective 4 x 100 races, but du Toit did not even need a leg to perform well and surely she would never allow anybody to anchor her spirit.  Body parts are merely limbs...the heart is the catalyst to competitive success.

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