Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius (/pɪsˈtɔːriəs/; born 22 November 1986) is a South African sprint runner. Pistorius, who has double below-knee amputations, competes in T44 (single below knee amputees) events though he is actually classified in T43 (double below knee amputee). He is the T44 world record holder for the 200 and 400 metres events, and the joint T43 record holder for the 100 metres.

In 2007, Pistorius took part in his first international competitions for able-bodied athletes. However, his Flex-Foot Cheetah carbon fibre transtibial prostheses gave rise to claims that he had an unfair advantage over able-bodied runners. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) amended its competition rules to ban the use of "any technical device that incorporates springs, wheels or any other element that provides a user with an advantage over another athlete not using such a device". The Federation said that the amendment was not specifically aimed at Pistorius. After monitoring his track performances and carrying out tests, scientists took the view that Pistorius enjoyed considerable advantages over athletes without prosthetic limbs. On the strength of these findings, on 14 January 2008 the IAAF ruled him ineligible for competitions conducted under its rules, including the 2008 Summer Olympics. This decision was reversed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 16 May 2008, the Court ruling that, since he was slower out of the blocks than an able-bodied athlete there was insufficient evidence that Pistorius had an overall net advantage over able-bodied athletes.

Although eligible to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, Pistorius did not qualify for the South African team. In his attempt to qualify for the 400 metres he achieved third place and a personal best time of 46.25 seconds in Lucerne, Switzerland, on 16 July 2008, short of the Olympic qualification time of 45.55 seconds. Nor was he selected by the South African Olympic Committee for the 4 × 400 metres relay team; four other runners had achieved better times. At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, he won gold medals in the 100, 200 and 400 metres (T44) sprints.

With his 400 metres time of 45.07 seconds on 19 July 2011, he achieved the "A" qualifying standard for the 2011 World Championships and 2012 Summer Olympics. At the Championships, he participated in the 400 metres sprint and the 4 × 400 metres relay. He was eliminated in the semifinal of the 400 metres sprint (finishing last with a time of 46.19 seconds), but, as part of South Africa's silver medal winning relay team, he became the first amputee to win an able-bodied world track medal although he was not selected for the final.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Pistorius became the first double leg amputee to participate in the Olympics when he entered the men's 400 metres race and was part of South Africa's 4 × 400 metres relay team. He also took part in the 2012 Summer Paralympics, where he entered the men's 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres races in the T44 classification, and in the T42–T46 4 × 100 metres relay. He won gold medals in the men's 400 metre race in a Paralympic record time of 46.68 seconds and in the 4 × 100 metres relay in a world record time of 41.78 seconds. He also took a silver in the 200 metres race, having set a world record of 21.30 seconds in the semifinal.