will be focusing on able-bodied events in the European leagues this year as he looks to become the first disabled athlete to compete in track and field at the Olympic Games. Photo: REUTERS
The window of opportunity is quickly closing on South African double-amputee Oscar Pistorius’s dream of competing in this year’s IAAF world championships.
With team selections expected in late June and final qualifying due by mid August, Pistorius must shave more than three-tenths of a second off his personal best to be considered for South Africa’s team in the 400m.
“I am confident I can do it,” said Pistorius, a double amputee who is famously called “Blade Runner” because he races with prosthetic blades of carbon fibre.
Pistorius will use 400m competitions at Ostrava, Czech Republic, on May 31; Eugene, Oregon, on June 4 and New York on June 11 as building blocks for a career he hopes will take him not only to the world championships but to London in 2012 for both the Olympics and Paralympics.
He will be aiming for a time of 45.25s, the qualifying standard for the August 27-September 4 world championships in Daegu, South Korea. His fastest time is 45.61s set in March.
He could challenge that mark in New York since American Jeremy Wariner, the 2004 Olympic champion and the fastest 400 metres runner currently competing, will also run, organisers said on Tuesday.
“I broke my personal best by a half second,” Pistorius said during a telephone interview from Pretoria arranged by New York meeting sponsors Adidas. “I have to come down another 0.3 seconds. It is going to be quite a tough task.”
But Pistorius, who was born without fibulas and had both his legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, believes he has found a way.
“The first 200 metres ... That is where I need to really improve my time. I need to sharpen up and not be scared and run out hard,” he said. “The better you can get off in the beginning, the better you can find your rhythm.”
Unfair advantage
No stranger to racing able-bodied athletes, Pistorius has not allowed either legal challenges or scientific tests that attempted to determine whether his prosthetic blades gave him an unfair advantage to deter his desire to face the best.
He failed to achieve the qualifying time for the Beijing Olympics but sprinted to gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m at the Paralympics that followed.
Pistorius, 24, hopes to follow up the world championships with races in the London Olympics and Paralympics, something only five other athletes have accomplished.
“I want to run the 400 in the Olympics, and the 100, 200, 400 and 4x100m relay in the Paralympics,” Pistorius said.
“I am sure I will be quiet tired after the 400 in the Olympics but I believe these opportunities only come once in a life.”
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