Something more precious than gold
(The disabled’s ability to compete in the Summer Olympics)


To continue our Olympic series, we now discuss the triumphs of athletes we don’t expect to see in world-class sporting events normally participated in by able-bodied athletes.

As discussed previously, propulsion is a big no-no in Olympic competitions. Because these athletes compete without mechanisms that give them advantage over their competitors, they qualified to compete in the Olympics (they may also have qualified to compete in the Paralympics but that’s another matter).

For most of these athletes, there was no legal case filed questioning their qualifications since most of them competed without any artificial limb. The one case filed and discussed later below is a landmark case. It is just unfortunate that the athlete involved was not able to qualify for the Beijing Games due to a slow running time.

George Eyser (1871-?)

The pioneer for all disabled Olympians is U.S. gymnast George Eyser who competed with a wooden left leg in St. Louis 1904 where he won 3 golds, 2 silvers and 1 bronze. He had his leg amputated after a train ran over it.

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Natalie du Toit (1984- )

At 16, South African swimmer Natalie du Toit was already an internationally competitive swimmer - having nearly qualified for Sydney 2000. In 2001, however, a careless driver directly ran into her left leg causing it to be amputated. She continued swimming and competed in the Paralympic Games in Athens 2004. Now at 24, she qualifies for the 1st time to compete in the Summer Olympics, albeit 1 leg short. She will compete in open water in the Women's Marathon 10km in Beijing.

Natalia Partyka (1989- )

Polish pingpong player Natalia Partyka was born without a right forearm. Like Natalie Du Toit, she competes without any prosthetic. She has already competed twice in the Paralympic Games, in Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. This year, both she and Natalie will compete in the Beijing Summer and Paralympic Games.

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Read more from the Legally Inclined Blog.