Although the winner of the 100m freestyle at the last two Paralympics and also the world record holder in the discipline, the South African (pictured above) tonight had to settle for silver.

And missing out on gold in her final race re-opened wounds from earlier this year when she qualified for the London 2012 Olympics in the open water swimming – only to be denied a place by selectors.

"To get a medal was something special and I walk away from the sport," she said.

"I think I went a bit slower tonight than this morning, Ellie is obviously a great competitor, and to get second is a bit disappointing but it is still a medal.

"It has been a hard ten days but I walk away and it has been positive," du Toit said, at which point she broke down before taking aim at those who denied her an Olympic spot.

"It's been a tough of couple of months.

"To qualify but to be told that you're not good enough was really, really tough.


"So to be here was special I think and as I said I walk away with absolutely no regrets.

"To those that were against me...hopefully they will get their day one day."

Still emotional, du Toit then failed to follow Cole (pictured above) and bronze medallist Sarai Gascón of Spain for photos after the victory ceremony, eventually joining them after being consoled by a member of her team.

It was an emotional end to a stunning career.

Although not as well known as compatriot Oscar Pistorius, who has also competed in both Olympic and Paralympic events, du Toit has arguably had just as important an impact.

Her performance stats tell their own story.

Du Toit has competed in 14 races here in nine days and finishes her career with 13 Paralympic gold medals.


She has also won seven gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, and in 2008 was the first ever female amputee to take part in an Olympic Games in Beijing.

Du Toit's first Commonwealth Games appearance came at the age of 14.

Three years later she was hit by a car while on her scooter and had to have her left leg amputated.

Still only, 17 du Toit was back in the pool before she had even managed to walk again.

That defiance has been a part of du Toit throughout her career.

In 2008, she became the first ever athlete to carry her country's flag at an Olympic (pictured above) and Paralympic Games in the same year.

And although she was ultimately beaten tonight, she put up a fierce fight for gold in the last metres of her career.

Such a fight in fact that Cole actually thought she had claimed silver, rather than her third gold of these Games, and admitted she felt a little guilty about stealing du Toit's thunder on her last race.

"I actually feel pretty bad about beating Natalie," she said.


"It was such an amazing swim – everything went to plan, I was a bit nervous beforehand.

"I had no idea where she was and I thought I was coming second but had no idea I was in front of Natalie too.

"I'm really going to miss her, I was quite upset beforehand as right before we walked out for our race she turned around and said 'this is my last race ever'."

Cole admitted she started crying at that point, and praised du Toit for the impact she had made on her and Paralympic swimming.

"She has been such a great support and a really good mentor, and has taught me so much – she has raised the bar so much.

"She has created a very competitive field which I am very thankful for."

This may have been du Toit's night, but Australia stole much of the attention, beginning with Cole's stunning success, at the Aquatics Centre this evening.

The first race of the night, the men's 100m freestyle S9, saw Australia's Matthew Cowdrey (pictured above) win his 13th gold medal.

He became his country's most successful Paralympian of all time earlier this week and unfortunately for his rivals, has no intention of retiring just yet.


"There are so many options for me both outside and inside the sport, so whatever I decide I'm sure I will be happy," he said.

"I am definitely leaning towards Glasgow [2014 Commonwealth Games] and Rio [2016 Paralympic Games], we'll see after that.

"As long as I'm still improving, enjoying it and having fun, which I definitely am at the moment, I'll still be there [in Rio]."

Australia also won the last race of the evening, with Jacqueline Freney completing a superb individual Games by leading her country to 4x100m medley relay gold.

Freney had already won seven gold medals and now having won every one of her races at these Games this was a remarkable eighth – the most ever won by an Australian at a single Paralympics.

Elsewhere, there was plenty for the Chinese to smile about, with Qing Xu (pictured above) winning his third gold of the Games in the 50m butterfly S6, setting a world record of 29.9.

Yang Yang went one better, claiming his fourth gold of London 2012 in the 50m freestyle S3, while compatriot Jiangbo Xia claimed her second gold medal in the two races she has competed in this week.


She also set a world record of 48.11 in the 50m freestyle S3.

There were also three athletes collecting their fifth golds of London 2012 tonight, all setting world records in the process.

Brazilian Daniel Dias won in 34.15 in the S5 50m butterfly to reach the landmark while Russia's Oxana Savchenko picked up her fifth gold after she clocked 26.9 in the 50m freestyle S12.

And 18-year-old Ihar Boki (pictured above) of Belarus reached his fifth, winning the 200m individual medley SM13 in 2min 6.3sec.

Spain's most successful Paralympian with 21 Games medals, Teresa Perales, however, is still looking for her first gold of these Games after she finished second in the women's 50m butterfly to Norway's Sarah Louise Rung.

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