It was a five-star show from swimmer Natalie du Toit at the Beijing Paralympics. The 24-year-old South African, who lost her left leg in a motorcycle accident back in 2001, was entered in five events at the Water Cube - it would have been six but for an administration error that meant she missed the 100m backstroke - and won them all.

With the S9 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle and 400m freestyle and 50m freestyle on the menu, along with the SM9 200m individual medley, it was a hectic schedule for du Toit but one she took, like everything else, with typical stoicism and humility.

She won each of her heats, then triumphed in all of her five finals, setting three world records en route on what she called an "emotional rollercoaster".

Why are Jamaicans so good at sprinting?

Jamaicans dominated the Olympic 100-meter sprint this weekend , with Usain Bolt setting a world record and his teammates taking all three medals in the women's event.   Jamaica is a poor, tiny nation about half the size of New Jersey. What makes its people such champion sprinters?

A combination of nature and nurture. Runners of West African descent—which includes Jamaicans as well as most African-Americans—seem to be built for speed: In 2004, they held all but five of the 500 best times in the 100-meter dash. (East Africans, such as Kenyans and Ethiopians, rule the long-distance field.) Several biological factors may be coming into play here. One study conducted in Quebec in the 1980s found that black West African students had significantly higher amounts of "fast-twitch" muscle fibers—the kind that are responsible for short, explosive bursts of action—than white French Canadians did. (So far, there is no evidence that even extensive training can turn slow-twitch muscles into fast-twitch ones, though moving in the other direction is possible.)

South Africa's Olympic rower Ramon Di Clemente flew out of Johannesburg for Beijing on Wednesday to make it his third Olympic Games in a row in which he will be competing with his third partner after being at the top of his internationally competitive game for an incredible 12 years.

Di Clemente, 33, has also claimed the South African Coxless Heavyweight title 11 times with three different partners.

"Remaining at the top of your game, competing against the best of the best in the world, for over a decade is a phenomenal achievement," said Paolo Cavalieri, himself a skilled rower who managed the Barcelona Olympic rowing squad and is the former CEO of Hollard Insurance who has sponsored Di Clemente for the past eight years.

The Wallabies will be using Saturday's much-anticipated Tri-Nations Test against New Zealand as a springboard to becoming the top nation in world rugby, coach Robbie Deans said on Friday.

There is a belief in the Australian camp that, after four undefeated matches under the Wallabies' first foreign coach, they can prevail in their biggest challenge so far against their trans-Tasman rivals.

If the Wallabies were to register back-to-back Bledisloe Cup wins over the All Blacks in Sydney and Auckland over the next nine days, they would go to the top of the IRB rankings for the first time in the system's five-year history.

Ricky Januarie produced a marvelous individual try to set up a historic 30-28 victory for the Springboks over the All Blacks in their Tri-Nations rugby test match played at Carisbrook in Dunedin on Saturday.

The nuggety scrumhalf’s magical try in the 74th minute, converted by Francois Steyn, carried the Springboks to their first ever victory in Dunedin and their first in New Zealand since 1998.

Two generations of world cup champions made guest appearances at the launch of the 2008 U18 Craven Week being hosted at Affies in Pretoria.

Players from the 2007 World Cup squad, Wynand Olivier, Fourie du Preez and Danie Rossouw were photographed with the Balie Swart from the 1995 Bok winning side.

Spain will play at the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa after becoming European champions with a 1-0 victory in Sunday's Vienna final.

Match-winner Fernando Torres and his teammates are the seventh team to be confirmed for the June 14-28, 2009 tournament, in five South African cities in an event which is also a rehearsal for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in the country.

Spain join hosts South Africa, world champions Italy and champions from the Fifa confederations - apart from Europe - United States, Brazil, Iraq and Egypt.

South African teenagers are obese couch potatoes and the biggest smokers in Africa. But come 2020 they will be the fittest in the world.

This is according to Professor Tim Noakes, renowned sports scientist at UCT, who said the dubious reputation of having unfit and overweight children could be reversed within 12 years.