The David Dixon Award, named after the former honorary secretary of the Commonwealth Games Federation, was presented, in a full stadium at the Closing Ceremony, to the athlete who made the best overall contribution to the Games.

Ian Thorpe, the world's greatest swimmer who had won six golds and a silver, was favourite to win it but he did not.

The Daily Mail takes up the story. "Although the Games finale's final act was drenched in a torrential downpour of trademark Manchester proportions the spirit of the occasion could not be dampened," the newspaper said.

"Natalie du Toit, the 18-year-old South African who lost a leg in a horrific moped accident, was chosen as the most outstanding athlete of the Games.

"The 4,000 competitors voted for Natalie above Aussie swimmer Ian Thorpe. Somehow it all seemed perfectly appropriate."

Du Toit, said the Daily Mail, had given a "genuinely unified resonance" to the Games.

She had set world records in winning two disability swimming gold medals, and had become the world's first disabled athlete to qualify for a final in an able-bodied event, the 800 metres freestyle.

The crowds loved her.

She remembers feeling very proud, and very wet.

"It certainly did rain," she said.

Later, Du Toit wrapped the trophy in a quilt and took it home to South Africa, unaware that she should have taken a replica instead because the original was made of platinum, gold and silver.

"I just put it in with the laundry and walked straight through customs with it," she said.

"They had to send two people to South Africa to take it back."

Du Toit met Thorpe a few times in Manchester.

"We both seemed to spend a lot of time in dope-testing," she said.

"We would sit and chat, and we shared a lift back to the Village."

It was a chance to share their memories of the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where Thorpe made his mark with four gold medals as a 15-year-old.

Du Toit won none in her three events, but she was only 14.

At 17, Du Toit lost her left leg in an accident.

A woman drove out of a parking space "straight into my leg, not actually into my motorbike, and my leg split, like if you drop a tomato on the ground".

She was in intensive care and "five days later they decided to amputate". 

"So, I have an amputation through the knee and a titanium rod and three screws down my femur, and an artificial limb," she said.

Never one to look back on life's 'what ifs', Du Toit just wanted to get back in the pool.

Within a few months she was making great progress, and the following year she was winning medals in Manchester, much to the delight of the crowd.

"I'll never forget the support they gave me, all standing and clapping," she said. "The people in Britain always seem to get behind you."

There were more medals to come in Melbourne and Delhi, and many more at the Paralympics.

Du Toit swam in the Olympics and Paralympics in 2008, and carried the flag for South Africa at both those Games.

She ended her career in the pool at London 2012, and was soon in demand as a motivational speaker.

"The Commonwealth Games has been really special to me," she said.