Amazing welcome for SA stars

Published Sep 12, 2012

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Michelle Jones

and Theresa Taylor

Soon after stepping off a plane from London, SA’s greatest Paralympian, Natalie du Toit, was handed a cheque for R1.4 million – her reward for winning one silver and three gold medals at the Paralympics.

This was during a ceremony at OR Tambo International Airport yesterday, where scores of excited fans gathered to welcome home the country’s Paralympics team.

It was Du Toit’s last competition as she has retired from competitive swimming.

Athlete Oscar Pistorius received R700 000 for his two golds and two silvers.

“I’ve achieved everything [I could] and that’s why I can walk away from the sport,” Du Toit said, announcing that although it would be a difficult transition, she planned to move out of the sporting world and into something new.

“I’m not quite sure what I enjoy, so it’s a new chapter,” she said. Du Toit will spend at least the next three months in the country but, come January, she could be anywhere doing anything. “I think for now, I want to divorce myself from the sport for a while,” she said.

Meanwhile, the other local Paralympians, who made up the bulk of the SA team, were welcomed as heroes on their arrival at Cape Town International Airport yesterday afternoon. Scores of friends, relatives and fans gathered in the domestic arrivals hall with banners and balloons.

For nearly an hour before their arrival, the group of flag-clad supporters waited with eyes trained on the gate as the sounds of vuvuzelas and a minstrel troupe pierced the excited chatter.

Hilton Langenhoven who wore his silver medal, won for the 400m, around his neck, said he looked forward to taking a break from training for about three or four weeks. He was exhausted from the Games and the years of training which had preceded it, but seeing the crowds waiting at the airport had lifted his spirits.

Ilse Hayes, who won gold in

the long jump and silver in the 100m, said she was touched that so many people had come to support the team. “It’s amazing to get such a welcome back.”

Hayes said she would soon start training for the World Championships in Athletics next year. Arnu Fourie, who thrilled crowds when he grabbed the bronze in the 100m race ahead of Oscar Pistorius, thanked South Africans for their support. “It’s phenomenal seeing the crowd.”

He was also part of the gold-winning 4x100m relay team.

Shark attack survivor, swimmer Achmat Hassiem, a bronze and silver medal winner, said he looked forward to starting training for the next Paralympic Games. He would be training to “hunt the gold medal”. His mother, Thoraiya, had tears in her eyes as she waited to greet him. Asked how she was feeling, she said: “I can’t describe my feelings. Relieved and proud.”

Other Western Cape medallists included Hendri Herbst, Jonathan Ntutu, Dyan Buis, Anrune Liebenberg, Fanie van der Merwe and Ernst van Dyk.

Cultural Affairs and Sport MEC Ivan Meyer welcomed the team home. He said 60 percent of the SA team had come from the Cape and 16 of 29 medals had been won by local athletes.

“Cape Town is certainly the capital of disabled sport in SA,” he said.

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