Wednesday 30 May 2012

Paralympic Athlete Highlight




Oscar Pistorius (South Africa)

Sport: Athletics


Oscar Pistorius is probably one of the most instantly recognisable Paralympians today. Often referred to as Blade Runner, he debuted at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens winning Bronze in the T44 (one leg amputated below the knee) 100-metre event. Whilst competing in the preliminary round of the 200 metres event he fell but still managed to qualify for the final where he went on to win Gold in a world record time of 21.97 seconds.

Pistorius fought a highly publicised battle with the governing body the IAAF over his prosthetic limbs and he was eventually cleared to run against able-bodied competitors in 2008.

At the Beijing Paralympics in 2008, he won three Golds and at last year's able-bodied World Championships in Daegu, he reached the semi-finals.

He is hoping to make history by qualifying for the London 2012 Olympics before competing in the 2012 Paralympic Games.

No comments: