Losing her leg in an accident as a teenager didn’t deter Natalie from achieving her childhood dream of competing in the Olympic Games. Natalie was a promising young ___1___. Before she reached ten years old she had already decided to ___2___ in an Olympics.
When she lost her left ___3___ in 2001, people thought it signalled the ___4___ of a promising young talent. Natalie had other ___5___. In 2002 Natalie competed in the Commonwealth Games, ___6___ history by qualifying for the able-bodied 800m freestyle final.
In 2008 Natalie became the first amputee (被截肢者) to ___7___ and compete in both the Olympic and Paralympic games. She said she would stop competition after London 2012 with a ___8___ career and she is still only 28. So why ___9___ now? In an interview Natalie explained that she had sacrificed a great deal, including ___10___ her studies, which she intends to ___11___. She says that she is still ___12___ enough to pursue another career.
Was she ___13___ to leave her last race with a silver and not a gold? No, she says. She’s ___14___ that disabled sport has come on so much ___15___ she first started and says it’s good to see youngsters coming through and winning. ___16___, Natalie’s last medal was only her second that was not gold, with an incredible 13 golds and two silvers in her Paralympic career.
In 2010 she was ___17___ the Laureus World Sportsperson of the year with disability, for “breaking down the ___18___ between disabled and able-bodied sports”. What do the other athletes ___19___ about her? A lovely, friendly person that one day they can hope and dream to ___20___ in the pool.
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